FDG-PET in cardiac infections

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Medicine
• Cardiology
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Cardiac infections, including endocarditis and device infections, present diagnostic challenges due to nonspecific symptoms.
• These infections carry significant morbidity and mortality, necessitating accurate and prompt diagnosis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the utility of (18)F-FDG-PET in diagnosing cardiac infections, focusing on endocarditis and cardiovascular device infections.
• To briefly explore PET's role in myocarditis and pericarditis, and future PET/MRI applications.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of published evidence on (18)F-FDG-PET for cardiac infection diagnosis.
• Focus on endocarditis, cardiovascular device infections, myocarditis, and pericarditis.

Main Results:

• (18)F-FDG-PET is increasingly recognized for diagnosing infectious and inflammatory diseases, including cardiac conditions.
• Evidence supports (18)F-FDG-PET's effectiveness in diagnosing endocarditis and cardiovascular device infections.

Conclusions:

• Accurate diagnosis of cardiac infections relies on correlating imaging with laboratory data.
• (18)F-FDG-PET shows significant promise for diagnosing cardiac infections, with future potential in hybrid imaging modalities.