FDG-PET/CT imaging during the Covid-19 emergency: a southern Italian perspective.

To assess the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on FDG-PET/CT work volume and to evaluate the occurrence of abnormal imaging findings suspicious or potentially diagnostic for interstitial pneumonia by Covid-19 infection in south Italy. We retrospectively reviewed the number and the findings of FDG-PET/CT studies acquired between February and April 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic at the University of Napoli Federico II. The number and the findings of FDG-PET/CT studies acquired in the corresponding period of 2019 were also assessed for direct comparison. The number of FDG-PET/CT studies performed during the pandemic (n = 299) and in the corresponding period of 2019 (n = 335) were comparable. The percentage of abnormal FDG-PET/CT findings, suspicious for interstitial pneumonia by Covid-19 infection, was significantly higher during the pandemic (9%) compared with that found in the corresponding period of 2019 (4%) (χ Despite the restrictive medical measures for the emergency, the number of FDG-PET/CT studies was unchanged during the pandemic compared with the previous year. Our findings also indicate that Covid-19 infection was contained in our series of patients from southern Italy.