VISUAL ASSESSMENT OF 18F-FLUORODEOXYGLUCOSE PET/CT RESULTS IN THE

DIAGNOSIS OF INFECTIOUS PROCESS IN HEART AND VESSELS AFTER

CARDIOVASCULAR INTERVENTIONS

 

Aslanidis I.P., Pursanova D.M, Mukhortova O.V., Shurupova I.V., Ekaeva I.V.,

Katunina T.A., Trifonova T.A.

Purpose. To study the features of the visual assessment of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) PET/CT results for the diagnosis of infectious process in heart and blood vessels after cardiovascular interventions.

Material and methods. The analysis included PET/CT results in 190 patients – after pacemaker implantation, valve and vessel replacement – for suspected infectious process (n=90) and oncologic patients without it (n=100). A total of 241 areas of interest with the high-density materials were analyzed using two types of images - with attenuation correction (AC) and without AC. All PET/CT results were verified according to clinical, laboratory and intraoperative (n = 64) data: the diagnosis was confirmed in 87 and excluded in 154 areas of interest.

Results. The analysis of two types of images (with and without AC), compared to one type (AC), allowed to increase the specificity – from 47% to 78%, the accuracy – from 65% to 84%. False abnormal 18F-FDG uptake due to attenuation artifact was detected in 47/241 (20%) analyzed areas of interest. Of them in 37/47 (79%), the artifacts were detected in the area of pacemaker, mainly in the device pocket (34/37).

The analysis showed that in areas with true positive results (n=83) the abnormal uptake was mainly focal – in 75/83 (90%) and of high intensity – in 71/83 (86%).

Conclusion. The analysis showed that visual assessment of both types of images – with CA and without CA – allowed to improve the accuracy of PET/CT results in the diagnostics of infectious processes after cardiovascular interventions. It has also been proven that in infectious processes in heart and vessels the abnormal 18F-FDG uptake is focal of high intensity.

 

A.N. Bakulev Scientific Center for

Cardiovascular Surgery.

Moscow, Russia.

 

Keywords: PET/CT, 18F-FDG, 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose, prosthetic valve, pacemaker, vascular graft, infection, infectious process, infectious endocarditis.

 


Corresponding author:  Pursanova D.M., e-mail: Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript

 

For citation: Aslanidis I.P., Pursanova D.M, Mukhortova O.V., Shurupova I.V., Ekaeva I.V., Katunina T.A., Trifonova T.A. Visual assessment of 18f-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT results in the diagnosis of infectious process in heart and vessels after cardiovascular interventions. REJR 2020; 10(4):120-130. DOI:10.21569/2222-7415-2020-10-4-120-130.

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Received:       01.09.20 Accepted:     22.09.20