Fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography successfully identified an infected right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduit in an immunocompromised patient after an unremarkable transthoracic echocardiogram.
Case Report (n=1)
No
Does FDG-PET scan improve the detection of infected conduits compared to transthoracic echocardiogram in patients with congenital heart disease presenting with bacteremia?
FDG-PET imaging has important diagnostic utility for detecting infected conduits in congenital heart disease patients when transthoracic echocardiography is unremarkable.
An 18-year-old man with a history of right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduit implantation for repair of congenital heart disease and vasculitis requiring chronic immunosuppression with azathioprine presented to the University of Ottawa with bacteremia. A transthoracic echocardiogram revealed no abnormalities at the site of the conduit. A fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography scan was subsequently obtained that demonstrated an infected right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduit. It is important to remember that, as is true for classic valve endocarditis, an unremarkable transthoracic echocardiogram does not rule out an infected conduit in this population, and nuclear imaging may have important diagnostic utility.
Parlow et al. (Mon,) conducted a case report in Infected right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduit (n=1). Fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scan vs. Transthoracic echocardiogram was evaluated on Detection of infected conduit. Fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography successfully identified an infected right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduit in an immunocompromised patient after an unremarkable transthoracic echocardiogram.