RESUMEN
We present a case of an 81-year-old woman who presented to the emergency department with bleeding from a right breast wound. The patient had prior imaging suggestive of bilateral silicone implant rupture and a history of low tolerance for MRI scans. Ultrasound imaging in the emergency setting showed findings in the right breast suggestive of a fistula with free silicone and hematoma. A subsequent photon-counting CT scan with custom silicone-specific segmentation allowed differentiation of silicone from hematoma, provided anatomic assessment and location of the fistula, and revealed bilateral silicone-induced lymphadenopathy.
RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to describe the imaging characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 vaccine-related axillary adenopathy and subsequent follow-up. METHODS: This was an IRB-approved, retrospective study of patients with imaging evidence of axillary lymphadenopathy who had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and presented between January 1, 2021, and February 28, 2021. Sonographic cortical thickness and morphology was evaluated. A mixed effects model was used to model lymph node cortical thickness decrease over time. RESULTS: A total of 57 women were identified with lymphadenopathy and a COVID vaccination during the study period with 51 (89.5%) women completing imaging surveillance or undergoing tissue sampling of a lymph node. Three women (5.9%) were diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer to an axillary node. There was a statistically significant correlation with cortical thickness at initial US evaluation and malignancy (7.7 mm [SDâ ±â 0.6 mm] for metastatic nodes and 5 mm [SDâ ±â 2 mm] for benign nodes, Pâ =â 0.02). Suspicious morphological features (effacement of fatty hilum, Pâ =â 0.02) also correlated with malignancy. Time to resolution of lymphadenopathy can be prolonged with estimated half-life of the rate of decrease in cortical thickness modeled at 77 days (95% CI, 59-112 days). Diffuse, smooth cortical thickening over 3 mm was the most common lymph node morphology. CONCLUSION: Malignant lymph node morphology and cortical thickness best predicted malignancy. Benign hyperplastic lymph nodes were the most common morphology observed after COVID-19 vaccination. Lymphadenopathy after vaccination is slow to resolve.