title: The role of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT for the diagnosis of infections in patients with hematological malignancies and persistent febrile neutropenia.
abstract: We assessed the performance of PET/CT for diagnosis and management of infections in high-risk hematological cancer patients with persistent febrile neutropenia in a prospective study. (18)F-FDG PET/CT with contrast-enhanced CT was performed on day 5-7 of persistent fever. Between 2008 and 2011, 91 PET/CT examinations were performed for different episodes in 79 patients, resulting in 117 diagnoses. The sensitivity of the PET/CT was 79.8% (71/89) compared to 51.7% (46/89) with chest/sinus CT alone. Specificities were 32.14% (9/28) vs. 42.85% (12/28), respectively. PET/CT resulted in a change from the pre-test diagnosis in 63/91 (69%) of episodes and in modification of patients' management in 46/91 (55%). PET/CT was beneficial in diagnosing abdominal infections. PET/CT has a potential role in the diagnostic evaluation of patients with persistent febrile neutropenia.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hematology, Davidoff Cancer Center, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital, Petah-Tikva, Israel. gn44@bezeqint.net
authors.forename: Anat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gafter-Gvili
authors.forename: Mical
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bernstine
authors.forename: Liat
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vidal
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ram
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Raanani
authors.forename: Moshe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yeshurun
authors.forename: Boaz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tadmor
authors.forename: Leonard
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Leibovici
authors.forename: Ofer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Shpilberg
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Groshar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012015:Reference Standards; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
keywords: FDG; Febrile neutropenia; Hematological malignancies; Invasive fungal infections; PET/CT