Not all that glitters is COVID! Differential diagnosis of FDG-avid interstitial lung disease in low-prevalence regions

Eur J Hybrid Imaging. 2020;4(1):19. doi: 10.1186/s41824-020-00088-6. Epub 2020 Oct 19.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is only one of the many possible infectious and non-infectious diseases that may occur with similar imaging features in patients undergoing [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (18FDG) monitoring, particularly in the most fragile oncologic patients. We briefly summarise some key radiological elements of differential diagnosis of interstitial lung diseases which, in our opinion, could be extremely useful for physicians reporting 18FDG PET/CT scans, not only during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also for their normal routine activity.

Keywords: COVID-19; Differential diagnosis; FDG PET/CT; Pneumonia; Radiological features; SARS-CoV-2.