MURRAY – New mammography guidelines for women receiving the COVID-19 vaccine were adopted Tuesday by Intermountain Healthcare and hospitals across the country.
Doctors said the swelling of the vaccine can complicate accurate reading of mammograms.
The guidelines state that women who have recently had the COVID-19 vaccine or are planning to get it soon may want to reschedule an upcoming mammogram.
Inflammation of the lymph nodes can cause poor reading.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is that when we do a mammogram, we can see these lymph nodes,” said Dr. Brett Parkinson, medical director of Intermountain Healthcare’s Breast Care Center.
The medical center now recommends that women over the age of 40 have an annual mammogram before receiving the vaccine, or that they delay the detection of cancer at least four weeks after the final dose.
Why: When people get the COVID-19 vaccine, their arms swell. “Those who have been vaccinated can attest to that,” Parkinson said.
This swelling also appears in the lymph nodes in the armpit area, usually on the same side as the shot, which is visible on a mammogram. They usually do not see enlarged lymph nodes unless it is inflammation or cancer. Recent national research found lymph node swelling in 11% of vaccine receptors after the first dose and 16% after the second dose.
“Therefore, when a mammogram is performed right after a COVID vaccine, you may have enlarged lymph nodes,” Parkinson said.
He said they rarely see enlarged lymph nodes unless breast cancer has traveled to the lymph nodes or if it is lymphoma or leukemia.
Therefore, when a mammogram is performed right after a vaccine against COVID, you may have enlarged lymph nodes … We do not want patients to get these false positives so that they have this type of alarm.
–Dr. Brett Parkinson, medical director of the Intermountain Healthcare Breast Care Center
“We don’t want patients to get these false positives so they have that kind of alarm,” Parkinson said. “Therefore, we established a set of guidelines that patients must follow.”
The new guidelines are also recommended by the Society of Breast Imaging after finding swollen lymph nodes on mammograms across the country.
If the inflammation of the lymph nodes does not go away after four weeks, Parkinson said the doctor should check him.
“This is a known side effect,” he said. “Don’t panic when it happens. But if it doesn’t resolve, come in and make yourself seen and we’ll specifically see this lymph node.”
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Jed Boal