title: PET findings in a brain abscess associated with a silent atrial septal defect.
abstract: Brain abscesses are classical complications of congenital heart disease (CHD) in children and adolescents. This association is rarely observed in adults. We report a 46-year-old man presenting a fronto-parietal abscess associated with an asymptomatic atrial septal defect. Positron emission tomography (PET) study revealed high uptake of L-[methyl-11C]methionine ([11C]methionine) and 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) around the brain abscess. We suggest (1) to exclude a silent cardiac malformation in the presence of a cerebral abscess of unknown source occurring in adults; (2) to consider the diagnosis of brain abscess in cases of high uptake of [11C]methionine and FDG in relation to a brain lesion.
authors.affiliation: Service de Neurologie, ULB-Hôpital Erasme, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dethy
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manto
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kentos
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Konopnicki
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pirotte
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goldman
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hildebrand
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D001922:Brain Abscess / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D002648:Child; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000382:microbiology; D005673:Fusobacterium / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006344:Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000382:microbiology; D010462:Peptostreptococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed