PET/CT effective in evaluating and monitoring post-COVID-19 lung disease

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Embargoed until 3:15 p.m. PDT, Saturday, June 11, 2022)—¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT has been proven successful in evaluating lung inflammation and monitoring treatment effects in patients suffering from post-COVID-19 lung disease. Presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2022 Annual Meeting, this study shows for the first time that residual COVID-19 symptoms, such as cough and breathlessness, can be attributed to the load of ongoing inflammation in the lungs.

Respiratory complications are a common and critical effect of severe COVID-19 infection. At least one-third of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are affected by respiratory symptoms. Several of these patients suffer from post-COVID-19 lung disease and require supplemental oxygen even after testing negative for COVID-19.

“During the pandemic, there was no standard modality to assess residual lung inflammation. It was difficult to gauge the extent and severity of disease even in recovering patients, and hence challenging to start appropriate treatment,” said Yogita Khandelwal, MBBS, a resident doctor at the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.

In the study, researchers utilized ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT to assess the metabolic activity of lung lesions and to evaluate the effect of steroids and antifibrotic drugs in treating post-COVID-19 lung disease. Baseline ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT was performed to evaluate the residual inflammatory activity in the lungs. Patients with inflammatory activities received steroid and antifibrotic treatment, and a follow-up ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT scan was performed after six to 12 weeks to evaluate treatment response and assess residual fibrosis.

Of the 25 patients included in the study, all initially showed metabolically active lesions in both lungs. Metabolically active mediastinal lymph nodes were also noted in more than half of the patients. After treatment with steroids and antifibrotic drugs, there was a significant decrease in the number, size and FDG-avidity of the previously seen lung lesions among all patients.

“¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT proved to be a sensitive tool for monitoring ongoing inflammation and its management,” noted Khandelwal. “Molecular markers identified by ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT can reveal the triggers and sustenance mechanism of inflammation, In the future, this could contribute to the development of new drugs and better management strategies.”

Abstract 1210. “A prospective study to investigate the implementation of semiquantitative inflammatory load in post-COVID-19 lung disease (PCLD) to strategize therapy,” Yogita Khandelwal, Manish Ora, Prakash Singh, Bela Jain, Sonam Suman, Alok Nath, Ajmal Khan, Manish Dixit, and Sanjay Gambhir, SGPGIMS, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Link to Abstract

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All 2022 SNMMI Annual Meeting abstracts can be found online.

About the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging

The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) is an international scientific and medical organization dedicated to advancing nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, vital elements of precision medicine that allow diagnosis and treatment to be tailored to individual patients in order to achieve the best possible outcomes.

SNMMI’s members set the standard for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine practice by creating guidelines, sharing information through journals and meetings and leading advocacy on key issues that affect molecular imaging and therapy research and practice. For more information, visit www.snmmi.org.

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