Cardiovascular infection and inflammation

Infectious and inflammatory processes, in particular those involving the cardiovascular system, are not a story of the past. New aggressive pathogens are responsible for difficult-to-treat infections. Present-day problems such as diabetes are associated with frequent and at times severe infectious processes, with high morbidity related to the disease or to available therapeutic options. Infections involving the heart or vessels pose clinical challenges in diagnosing and planning the most appropriate therapeutic strategy. Inflammatory processes are diagnosed more frequently today, acknowledged as pathologic conditions of high clinical significance, and much is invested in developing efficient therapeutic options. Nuclear medicine procedures are an important component of the evaluation armamentarium used in patients with suspected or confirmed infectious and inflammatory processes. Their role relies on the strength of noninvasive scintigraphic imaging tests that provide functional and metabolic information early during the course of the disease. Drawbacks of nuclear medicine procedures related to either the use of specific radiolabeled tracers or to their rather low resolution are overcome to a large extent during the last decade by the introduction of hybrid positron emission tomography/computed tomography and single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography imaging devices. Initial validated results regarding the role of nuclear medicine and of hybrid imaging using various radiotracers in the evaluation of cardiovascular infections and inflammatory processes are emerging over the last few years. They indicate the potentially important role of these modalities for early and precise diagnosis, in defining the whole extent of disease, for individualized treatment tailoring and for monitoring response to treatment. Attention needs to be given to match the appropriate imaging test and radiolabeled agent to the clinical question at hand. Nuclear medicine in general and hybrid imaging procedures in particular will redefine in future the diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities in patients with suspected or known infections and inflammations of the cardiovascular system.