NO LONGER RARE! New Study Finds Even Higher Rate of Heart Inflammation in Vaxxed Than Previously Diagnosed.
Silent cardiac inflammation discovered by Investigators using new 18F-FDG PET/CT scanning on Vaxxed vs. Non-vaxxed patients with no history of cardiac issues
A new study has detected heart inflammation in all mRNA vaccinated patients who were undergoing routine medical checkups for other reasons. If replicated, the findings could upend the idea of rare myocarditis after COVID vaccination.
The future of cardiac disease assessment using 18F-FDG PET/CT — O Manabe, N Tamaki - Japanese Journal of Radiology, 2021 (LINK)
Assessment of Myocardial 18F-FDG Uptake at PET/CT in Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2-vaccinated and Nonvaccinated Patients (LINK)
DISCUSSION
Although patient who developed myocarditis following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination show abnormalities on cardiac MRI, whether myocardial changes occur in asymptomatic individuals following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination is not well established. It was reported that 18F-FDG uptake in PET/CT correlated LGE or T2 intensity on cardiac MRI in myocarditis following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and recent study showed in COVID-19 myocarditis. The aim of this study is to investigate myocardial 18F-FDG uptake on PET/CT in asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 vaccinated patients compared to nonvaccinated patients.
In this observational study of patients who underwent PET/CT during comprehensive medical checkups or to evaluate malignancies, patients who had received SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-based vaccination showed increased myocardial FDG uptake on scans compared to nonvaccinated patients (visual score median, 2 [IQR: 0-3] vs 1 [IQR: 0-2], P <.001, SUVmax median, 4.75 [3.0-8.5] vs 3.3 [IQR: 2.5-6.2], P <.001). This increase in myocardial FDG uptake in vaccinated patients was also observed in subgroup analyses that excluded individuals with cancer or homogenous myocardial uptake. When patients were divided into groups based on the time interval between vaccination and imaging, myocardial FDG uptake was higher in all vaccinated groups (median SUVmax range, 4.6-5.1 [range of IQRs: 2.9-8.6]) compared to the nonvaccinated group (median SUVmax, 3.1 [IQR: 2.5-6.2]; P range, <.001-.001) except for the vaccinated group including individuals imaged >180 days after their 2nd vaccination (median SUV max, 4.5 [IQR: 2.7-9.3]; P =.15). No difference in the myocardial or axillary FDG uptake was observed between patients who received the BNT162b2 mRNA and mRNA-1273 vaccines. In 16 patients with more than one PET/CT scan available, myocardial and axillary FDG uptake was higher on PET/CT scans taken after vaccination than those taken before vaccination.