Post-COVID-19 Brain [18F] FDG-PET Findings: A Retrospective Single-Center Study in the United States

Article Figures & Data

Subjects’ baseline characteristics

	Post-COVID (n = 45)	Controls (n = 52)^a
Age (mean) (range) (yr)	58 (18–87)	57 (24–73)
Male sex (No.) (%)	24 (53.33)	28 (53.85)
[¹⁸F] FDG administered dose (mean) (SD) (mCi)	12.28 (3.18)	11.88 (2.59)
BMI (mean) (SD) (kg/m²)	28.62 (7.59)	28.45 (6.36)
Glucose levels (mean) (SD) (mg/dL)	95.13 (22.90)	98.04 (23.82)
Diabetes (No.) (%)	3 (6.67)	6 (11.54)
High blood pressure (No.) (%)	14 (31.11)	21 (40.38)
Delay between positive RT-PCR and imaging (mean) (SD) (mo)	6.57 (4.85)	–
COVID-19 severity mild/moderate or severe (No.) (%)	37/8 (82.22/17.78)	–
Hospitalization (No.) (%)	15 (33.33%)
Oxygen supplementation (No.) (%)	9 (20.00%)
Mechanical ventilation (No.) (%)	2 (4.44%)
COVID-19 vaccine at any time before [¹⁸F] FDG-PET scan (No.) (%)	28 (62.2)	–
Symptoms (No.) (%)
Dysosmia/dysgeusia^b	17 (37.80)	–
Fever	16 (35.6)	–
Chills	6 (13.3)	–
Cough	16 (35.6)	–
Dyspnea	8 (17.8)	–
Chest pain	2 (4.4)	–
Pharyngitis	4 (8.9)	–
Rhinitis	3 (6.7)	–
Headache	4 (8.9)	–
Fatigue	7 (15.6)	–
Muscular pain	1 (2.2)	–
Dysgeusia	1 (2.2)	–
Anosmia/hyposmia	1 (2.2)	–
Diarrhea	4 (8.9)	–
Loss of appetite	2 (4.4)	–
Neurologic symptoms at time of imaging (No.) (%)^c
Persistent headaches	3 (6.7)
Memory impairment	1 (2.2)
Difficulty concentrating	1 (2.2)
Fatigue	1 (2.2)
Insomnia	1 (2.2)

Note:—The en dash indicates not applicable.
↵a No statistically significant difference was observed between patients post-COVID and sex- and age-matched controls (P < .05, 2-sample t test for continuous variables, χ² test for dichotomous variables).
↵b Between the time of the initial diagnosis and PET imaging. All other symptoms pertain to the time of the initial diagnosis.
↵c Persistent symptoms following COVID-19 infection that were reported in the patients’ records dating no more than 7 days before PET imaging.