title: Usefulness of (18)F-FDG PET/CT in disease extent and treatment response assessment in a patient with syphilitic aortitis.
abstract: A 40-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for surgical treatment of aortic insufficiency and coronary ostial stenosis. Histopathology and serological tests revealed a syphilitic aortitis. F-FDG PET/CT was performed to assess the extent of aortitis, showing increased radiopharmaceutical uptake along the ascending aortic wall. A repeated FDG PET/CT after antibiotic therapy showed a markedly reduced uptake in the aortic wall, suggesting resolution of the infection according to clinical and serological data. This case highlights the usefulness of FDG PET/CT for the assessment of disease extent and treatment response in patients with syphilitic aortitis.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy. giorgiomednuc@libero.it
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Treglia
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taralli
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maggi
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Coli
authors.forename: Libero
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lauriola
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giordano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D010406:Penicillins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D013589:Syphilis, Cardiovascular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D010406:Penicillins; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18