title: Imaging with (18)F-FDG-PET in infective endocarditis: promising role in difficult diagnosis and treatment monitoring.
abstract: Echocardiography (EC) plays a major role in diagnosing and monitoring the therapeutic response in infective endocarditis (IE) in routine practice. However in the setting of prosthetic valves or indwelling pacemakers, the EC findings are equivocal necessitating search for other diagnostic modalities. In these patients, (18)F-FDG/PET imaging may prove invaluable as evidenced by the presented case. We herein report a case of an 82 years old male with a mechanical aortic valve prosthesis who presented with a 10 days history of fever and malaise. Optimal interpretation of the EC results was difficult due to the presence of the prosthetic valve. However, (18)F-FDG-PET imaging findings were quite distinctive and revealed abnormally increased metabolic activity represented by two foci of increased (18)F-FDG uptake in the right and left borders of the heart that corresponded to areas of IE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Siamak
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moghadam-Kia
authors.forename: Asad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nawaz
authors.forename: B Cherie
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Millar
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Wiegers
authors.forename: Drew A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Torigian
authors.forename: Sandip
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Basu
authors.forename: Abass
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alavi
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004696:Endocarditis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy*; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18