Potential clinical role of 18F FDG-PET/CT in detecting hip prosthesis infection: a study in patients undergoing two-stage revision arthroplasty with an interim spacer.
OBJECTIVE
We evaluated the potential role of [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography ([18F]FDG-PET/CT) to identify latent infections at the site of an interim hip spacer after resection arthroplasty for hip prosthesis infection.


METHODS
Twelve patients with an interim hip spacer following resection arthroplasty (Group A) were investigated. Twelve patients with painful primary hip prostheses served as controls (Group B). All underwent PET/CT before surgery. Both non-attenuation-corrected (NAC) and attenuation-corrected (AC) images were analyzed. Serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were measured in 22 patients. Elevated CRP level was defined as >/=10 mg/L. The diagnosis of infection was based on the results of intraoperative tissue cultures, intraoperative pathology, and clinical follow-up.


RESULTS
FDG-PET/CT had 100% sensitivity and 100% negative predictive value for detection of latent infection in both groups. However, there were 4 and 3 false positive cases in Group A and Group B, respectively. Specificity improved from 50% to 62.5% in Group A, and from 62.5% to 87.5% in Group B when using NAC instead of AC. Seventeen patients had CRP values >/=10 mg/L, but only 8 were true positive for infection. FDG-PET/CT ruled out infection in 77.8% (7/9) of false-positive cases identified by CRP levels.


CONCLUSIONS
FDG-PET/CT is highly sensitive to detect latent infections in prosthetic hips and in interim hip spacers. The high negative predictive value of PET/CT scans is useful to rule out infections in patients with persistently elevated CRP levels. PET/CT might serve as an auxiliary tool to exclude latent infections in patients posing a clinical diagnostic dilemma.
Chen
S H
SH
Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Ho
K C
KC
Hsieh
P H
PH
Lee
M S S
MS
Yen
T C
TC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006622:Hip Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012086:Reoperation / Q000379:methods; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D002097:C-Reactive Protein