{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,2]],"date-time":"2025-11-02T08:43:08Z","timestamp":1762072988115,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,4]],"date-time":"2022-11-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1667520000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JPM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objectives: Interstitial pneumonia is a severe complication induced by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Several treatments have been proposed alone or, more often, in combination, depending, also, on the presence of other organ disfunction. The most frequently related, well-described, and associated phenomenon is pan-lymphopenia with circulating, high levels of cytokines. We report, here, on two patients with COVID-19 and lymphoproliferative disorders treated with Tocilizumab (a humanized monoclonal antibody against the interleukin-6 receptor) and followed by an [18F]FDG PET\/CT to early evaluate the therapy\u2019s efficacy. Methods: One patient with angioimmunoblastic T-lymphoma (A), one with Hodgkin lymphoma (A), and both with positive RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 and with similar clinical findings of interstitial pneumonia at the CT scan, were imaged by [18F]FDG PET\/CT before and 14 days after a single dose of Tocilizumab. Results: In both patients, the basal [18F]FDG PET\/CT showed a diffused lung parenchyma uptake, corresponding to the hyperdense areas at the CT scan. After 2 weeks of a Tocilizumab infusion, patient B had an improvement of symptoms, with normalization of the [18F]FDG uptake. By contrast, patient A, who was still symptomatic, showed a persisting and abnormal distribution of [18F]FDG. Interestingly, both patients showed a low bone marrow uptake of [18F]FDG at the diagnosis and after 15 days, while the spleen uptake was low only in lymphopenic patient A; both are indirect signs of an immune deficiency. Conclusions: In conclusion, in these two patients, interstitial pneumonia was efficiently treated with Tocilizumab, as demonstrated by the [18F]FDG PET\/CT. Our results confirm that interleukin-6 (IL6) has a role in the COVID-19 disease and that anti-cytokine treatment can also be performed in patients with lymphoproliferative disorders.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jpm12111839","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,4]],"date-time":"2022-11-04T04:26:05Z","timestamp":1667535965000},"page":"1839","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["[18F]FDG PET\/CT in Patients Affected by SARS-CoV-2 and Lymphoproliferative Disorders and Treated with Tocilizumab"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8923-648X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alberto","family":"Signore","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Medical-Surgical Sciences and of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0314-5059","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chiara","family":"Lauri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Medical-Surgical Sciences and of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maria Paola","family":"Bianchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Haematology, \u201cSant\u2019Andrea\u201d University Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, 00189 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sabrina","family":"Pelliccia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Haematology, \u201cSant\u2019Andrea\u201d University Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, 00189 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"Lenza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nuclear Medicine Unit, AOU Sant\u2019Andrea, 00189 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Simone","family":"Tetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nuclear Medicine Unit, AOU Sant\u2019Andrea, 00189 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maria Luisa","family":"Martini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nuclear Medicine Unit, AOU Sant\u2019Andrea, 00189 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gabriele","family":"Franchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nuclear Medicine Unit, AOU Sant\u2019Andrea, 00189 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fabio","family":"Trapasso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nuclear Medicine Unit, AOU Sant\u2019Andrea, 00189 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7739-3197","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luciano","family":"De Biase","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Heart Failure Unit, Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, 00189 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Antonio","family":"Aceti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infection Unit, Department NESMOS, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Agostino","family":"Tafuri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Haematology, \u201cSant\u2019Andrea\u201d University Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, 00189 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"337","DOI":"10.55563\/clinexprheumatol\/xcdary","article-title":"COVID-19, cytokines and immunosuppression: What can we learn from severe acute respiratory syndrome?","volume":"38","author":"Giorgi","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clin. 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Imaging"}],"container-title":["Journal of Personalized Medicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-4426\/12\/11\/1839\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T01:10:30Z","timestamp":1760145030000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-4426\/12\/11\/1839"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,4]]},"references-count":24,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,11]]}},"alternative-id":["jpm12111839"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/jpm12111839","relation":{},"ISSN":["2075-4426"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2075-4426"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,4]]}}}