Department of Breast Surgery, Nagoya Tokushukai General Hospital, Kasugai, Japan;
Clinical Research Center, Nagoya Tokushukai General Hospital, Kasugai, Japan.
In Vivo. 2022 Mar-Apr;36(2):1041-1046. doi: 10.21873/invivo.12800.
BACKGROUND/AIM: COVID-19 started to spread as a pandemic in December 2019 and COVID-19 vaccination has been initiated worldwide. The efficacy of vaccination has been scientifically proven, but it might cause axillary lymph node swelling. To diagnose patients with axillary lymph node swelling caused by COVID-19 vaccination, we herein reviewed existing literature on this symptom.
We report the case of a 70-year-old woman with a breast tumour. She had undergone cecum cancer surgery and regular computed tomography (CT). During breast tumour follow-up, she received scheduled CT that indicated severe axillary lymph node swelling mimicking breast cancer metastasis. We performed aspiration biopsy cytology of that lymph node, and determined this was not cancer metastasis but an effect of the COVID-19 vaccine. We confirmed this diagnosis at one month after computed tomography showed that the lymph node swelling had improved.
Axillary lymph node swelling can occur after COVID-19 vaccination. Therefore, it is important to consider the effect of the COVID-19 vaccination on axillary lymph node swelling when diagnosing breast tumours.
背景/目的：2019 年 12 月，COVID-19 开始作为一种大流行病传播，全球范围内已开始接种 COVID-19 疫苗。疫苗接种的效果已得到科学证实，但它可能会导致腋窝淋巴结肿大。为了诊断 COVID-19 疫苗接种引起的腋窝淋巴结肿大的患者，我们在此回顾了关于该症状的现有文献。
我们报告了一例 70 岁女性患有乳房肿瘤。她曾接受过盲肠肿瘤手术和定期计算机断层扫描（CT）。在进行乳房肿瘤随访时，她按计划进行了 CT 检查，结果显示严重的腋窝淋巴结肿大，类似于乳腺癌转移。我们对该淋巴结进行了抽吸活检细胞学检查，结果表明这不是癌症转移，而是 COVID-19 疫苗的作用。一个月后再次进行 CT 检查，显示淋巴结肿大已改善，我们证实了这一诊断。
COVID-19 疫苗接种后可能会发生腋窝淋巴结肿大。因此，在诊断乳房肿瘤时，考虑 COVID-19 疫苗对腋窝淋巴结肿大的影响很重要。
