Abstract 12920: The Value of 18 FDG PET/CT in the Diagnostic Work-Up of Patients With Possible Infective Endocarditis

The diagnosis of infective endocarditis (IE) is sometimes difficult when there are discrepancies between blood cultures, transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and clinical judgment. The aim of this study was to assess the incremental diagnostic value of 18F-FDG-PET/CT in 45 consecutive patients (73% male, mean age 61 ± 26 years) with suspected IE and inconclusive tests at admission. In 28 patients (19 with a cardiac valvular (15) or nonvalvular (4) device) with blood cultures positive for germs typically involved in IE the initial TEE was negative or inconclusive. In 10 patients presenting with fever TEE identified cardiac lesion possibly related to IE (ruptured mitral chordae, thickened valve leaflet, thickened prosthetic annulus), but blood cultures were persistently negative. Finally, 7 patients had metastatic or embolic lesions and a predisposing cardiac condition, but TEE was negative. When previous unknown lesions detected by PET/CT were confirmed by succeeding examinations, they were considered tr...