Diagnosis of ventriculoperitoneal shunt infection using [F-18]-FDG PET: a case report

Infection of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunts is a common occurrence and can often be difficult to diagnose using standard analysis of shunt fluid. This article presents the first case report on the diagnosis of a CSF shunt infection on FDG PET scan. A 26-year-old female underwent ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement after developing a pseudomeningocele subsequent to a suboccipital craniectomy for Chiari malformation. Two months later, the patient presented with abdominal pain and non-specific symptoms and was found to have a perisplenic abscess for which she was adequately treated. Failure of her symptoms to solve and an initial negative shunt CSF analysis prompted the search for other sources of infection. An FDG PET scan performed a week later found evidence of increase tracer uptake around the distal tip of the catheter and a repeat shunt CSF analysis showed evidence of CSF infection. FDG PET may be useful in diagnosing shunt related infections in case of high clinical suspicion when standard diagnostic modalities fail to diagnose hardware infection.