Persistent lung and vascular inflammation in mild to moderate COVID-19 survivors detected by ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT: A quantitative imaging study with implications for cardiovascular risk
Persistent pulmonary inflammation is evident following mild-to-moderate COVID-19 and is associated with increased vascular inflammation. These findings suggest a mechanistic link between post-infectious lung and vascular inflammation, potentially contributing to elevated cardiovascular risk. ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT enabled sensitive detection of subclinical inflammation in both compartments, highlighting the value of quantitative PET metrics in elucidating systemic inflammatory response following viral infection.
Authors
- Jeremy S. L. Ong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5101-6107)
- Roslyn J. Francis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6256-1351)
- Kamar Ali (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-3076-7984)
- Paul M. Parizel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0221-2854)
- Ambuj Roy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6418-4388)
- Natalie C. Ward (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6042-437X)
- Girish Dwivedi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0717-740X)
- Afaq Ahmad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8592-1612)
- N. Lan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7222-7314)
- Heidi Espedal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0190-8999)
- Shipra Verma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3544-6339)
- Sanjay Patel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2739-9448)
Institutions
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- The University of Western Australia (AU)
- Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (AU)
- Royal Perth Hospital (AU)
- Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research (AU)
- Fiona Stanley Hospital (AU)
- The Heart Research Institute (AU)
- Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (AU)
- National Imaging Facility (AU)
- All India Institute of Medical Sciences (IN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
- Published
- 2025-11-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-025-07656-7
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.40