FDG PET/CT in Diagnosing COVID-19 Infection in a Cancer Patient With Exposure History But Minimal Symptoms

Clin Nucl Med. 2020 Aug;45(8):656-658. doi: 10.1097/RLU.0000000000003137.

Abstract

A 56-year-old woman with high-grade neuroendocrine small cell carcinoma had known contact history of COVID-19 about 16 days prior to the restaging PET/CT. The patient was instructed to self-quarantine for 14 days, and no COVID-19 test was performed. Upon arrival, the patient had low-grade fever of 37.1°C, but did not meet infection control criteria for COVID-19 testing, and it was approved to proceed with PET/CT. The FDG PET/CT images revealed new multifocal hypermetabolic bilateral pulmonary ground-glass opacities that are suggestive of COVID-19 pneumonia. Meanwhile, the patient's symptoms worsened, and a blood test later confirmed COVID-19 infection.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Betacoronavirus*
  • COVID-19
  • Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine / complications*
  • Carcinoma, Small Cell / complications*
  • Coronavirus Infections / complications
  • Coronavirus Infections / diagnostic imaging*
  • Female
  • Fever / etiology
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Pandemics
  • Pneumonia, Viral / complications
  • Pneumonia, Viral / diagnostic imaging*
  • Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography
  • SARS-CoV-2

Substances

  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18