PET CT in endocarditis – Cardiology MCQ – Answer

PET CT in endocarditis – Cardiology MCQ – Answer

Radioactive tracer used for detection of active foci of inflammation/metabolism in infective endocarditis is – Correct answer: 4. Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose

Supplementing Dukes criteria with 18F-FDG PET CT increased the sensitivity from 52% to 91% with a slight fall in specificity from 95% to 89%. The authors further noted that reclassification from possible endocarditis to either definite or rejected category could be done in 95% which has great clinical significance [1]. This would permit early initiation of antibiotic therapy in definite cases while avoiding unnecessary prolonged antibiotic therapy in rejected cases.

Reference

1. María N Pizzi, Albert Roque, Nuria Fernández-Hidalgo, Hug Cuéllar-Calabria, Ignacio Ferreira-González, María T Gonzàlez-Alujas, Gerard Oristrell, Laura Gracia-Sánchez, Juan J González, José Rodríguez-Palomares, Manuel Galiñanes, Olga Maisterra-Santos, David Garcia-Dorado, Joan Castell-Conesa, Benito Almirante, Santiago Aguadé-Bruix, Pilar Tornos. Improving the Diagnosis of Infective Endocarditis in Prosthetic Valves and Intracardiac Devices with 18F-FDG-PET/CT-Angiography: Initial Results at an Infective Endocarditis Referral Center. Circulation. 2015; 132: 1113-1126.