These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Fever of unknown origin: the role of 18F-FDG PET/CT.
    Author: Keidar Z, Gurman-Balbir A, Gaitini D, Israel O.
    Journal: J Nucl Med; 2008 Dec; 49(12):1980-5. PubMed ID: 18997040.
    Abstract:
    UNLABELLED: Fever of unknown origin (FUO) is a challenging diagnostic problem. Timely identification and precise localization of the causing process are critical for appropriate patient management. The present prospective study evaluates the role of PET/CT using (18)F-FDG in the investigation of FUO. METHODS: A total of 48 consecutive patients (25 men, 23 women; age range, 24-82 y) with FUO underwent (18)F-FDG PET/CT scans. FUO was defined as a fever of more than 38.3 degrees C that lasted for more than 3 wk and failure to reach diagnosis after more than 1 wk of inpatient investigation. The performance of PET/CT for identifying the etiology of FUO was assessed. Final diagnosis was based on histopathology, microbiologic assays, or clinical and imaging follow-up. RESULTS: PET/CT detected suggestive foci of increased (18)F-FDG uptake in 27 patients. In 22 of these 27 positive studies (81%), PET/CT identified the underlying disease and diagnosed infection in 9 patients, an inflammatory process in 10 patients, and malignancy in 3 patients. (18)F-FDG PET/CT was negative in 21 patients. All these patients were diagnosed as having systemic nonfocal infection or drug-induced fever or showed spontaneous resolution of the febrile state with no further evidence of a localized inflammatory, infectious, or malignant process for a clinical follow-up period of 12-36 mo. CONCLUSION: (18)F-FDG PET/CT identified the underlying cause of the fever in 46% of the present study population and contributed to the diagnosis or exclusion of a focal pathologic etiology of the febrile state in 90% of patients. (18)F-FDG PET/CT has a high negative predictive value (100%) for assessment of FUO. If confirmed by further studies, (18)F-FDG PET/CT may be used in the future as an initial noninvasive diagnostic modality for assessment of this group of patients.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]