Sophia Zackrisson
Research group manager, Principal investigator, Professor, MD
Axillary lymphadenopathy at the time of COVID-19 vaccination : ten recommendations from the European Society of Breast Imaging (EUSOBI)
Author
Summary, in English
Unilateral axillary lymphadenopathy is a frequent mild side effect of COVID-19 vaccination. European Society of Breast Imaging (EUSOBI) proposes ten recommendations to standardise its management and reduce unnecessary additional imaging and invasive procedures: (1) in patients with previous history of breast cancer, vaccination should be performed in the contralateral arm or in the thigh; (2) collect vaccination data for all patients referred to breast imaging services, including patients undergoing breast cancer staging and follow-up imaging examinations; (3) perform breast imaging examinations preferentially before vaccination or at least 12 weeks after the last vaccine dose; (4) in patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer, apply standard imaging protocols regardless of vaccination status; (5) in any case of symptomatic or imaging-detected axillary lymphadenopathy before vaccination or at least 12 weeks after, examine with appropriate imaging the contralateral axilla and both breasts to exclude malignancy; (6) in case of axillary lymphadenopathy contralateral to the vaccination side, perform standard work-up; (7) in patients without breast cancer history and no suspicious breast imaging findings, lymphadenopathy only ipsilateral to the vaccination side within 12 weeks after vaccination can be considered benign or probably-benign, depending on clinical context; (8) in patients without breast cancer history, post-vaccination lymphadenopathy coupled with suspicious breast finding requires standard work-up, including biopsy when appropriate; (9) in patients with breast cancer history, interpret and manage post-vaccination lymphadenopathy considering the timeframe from vaccination and overall nodal metastatic risk; (10) complex or unclear cases should be managed by the multidisciplinary team.
Department/s
- LUCC: Lund University Cancer Centre
- EpiHealth: Epidemiology for Health
- Radiology Diagnostics, Malmö
- Diagnostic Radiology, (Lund)
Publishing year
2021
Language
English
Publication/Series
Insights into Imaging
Volume
12
Issue
1
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Springer
Topic
- Cancer and Oncology
Keywords
- COVID-19 vaccines
- Lymphadenopathy
- Magnetic resonance imaging
- Mammography
- Ultrasonography (breast)
Status
Published
Research group
- Radiology Diagnostics, Malmö
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1869-4101