Title:The Role of 18F-FDG-PET/CT in Infectious Endocarditis and Cardiac Device Infection
Volume: 3
Issue: 3
Author(s): Kate Isabella Rewers, Asbjorn Mathias Scholtens, Anders Thomassen and Soren Hess
Affiliation:
Keywords:
18F-FDG-PET/CT, infectious endocarditis, cardiac implantable electronic device infection, left ventricular assist
devices.
Abstract: As in many other infectious diseases 2-deoxy-2-[18F] fluoro-D-glucose (18F-FDG) positron
emission tomography (PET) combined with computed tomography (CT) (18F-FDG-PET/CT) has shown
obvious potential in cardiovascular infections, although several issues remain unclarified with regard to
acquisition and patient preparation protocols. Overall, 18F-FDG-PET/CT should be considered an important
complementary diagnostic technique in infectious endocarditis, and cardiac device related infections,
especially for extracardiac disease state. Also, monitoring of the metabolic response to antibiotics should
be considered a promising indication, and the high negative predictive value of 18F-FDG-PET/CT is also
of great clinical relevance. The purpose of this work was to present the current evidence regarding the role of 18F-FDGPET/
CT in infectious endocarditis, extracardiac complications, and cardiac implantable electronic devices.
