Surgical management of purulent pericarditis with diagnostic assistance from fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission...

Although purulent pericarditis is rare in the modern era, early diagnosis and appropriate therapy with antibiotics and drainage are critical because it remains a rapidly progressive and highly fatal infection. Purulent pericarditis typically occurs as a secondary infection through hematogenous dissemination or contiguous spread from an intrathoracic infection, with most cases occurring in immunocompromised individuals. Herein, we report the case of a 52-year-old male patient with a history of diabetes mellitus who had difficult-to-diagnose chest pain. He was ultimately diagnosed with purulent pericarditis using ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography, then treated via surgical drainage, pericardiectomy, and long-term antibiotic therapy.