Impact of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography on diagnosis and antimicrobial utilization in patients with high-risk febrile neutropenia

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Early and targeted antimicrobial therapy improves outcomes in patients with febrile neutropenia (FN). We evaluated the impact of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) on antimicrobial utilization in the management of FN. A cohort of patients with FN and hematological malignancy was identified. Cases (in whom FDG-PET was performed, n = 37) were compared with controls (in whom conventional investigations excluding FDG-PET were performed, n = 76). An underlying cause for FN was determined in 94.6% of cases, compared to 69.7% of controls. FDG-PET had a significant impact on antimicrobial utilization compared to conventional imaging (35.1% vs. 11.8%; p = 0.003), and was associated with shorter duration of liposomal amphotericin-B therapy for systemic fungal infection (median 4.0 days cases vs. 10.0 days controls; p = 0.001). Cases had a longer length of hospitalization (p = 0.016). In the management of patients with high-risk FN, FDG-PET improves diagnostic yield and allows rationalization of antifungal therapy. The impact upon healthcare costs associated with antimicrobial therapy for FN requires further evaluation.