Estudio de pacientes con síndrome febril prolongado con 18F-FDG PET-TC

Abstract

ObjectiveTo review the findings on 18F-FDG PET-CT in patients with fever of unknown origin lasting more than 7 days. Material and methodsThis retrospective descriptive observational study included 93 18F-FDG PET-CT studies to detect a fever-causing focus done at three nuclear medicine centers from October 2006 through February 2014. A nuclear medicine specialist and a radiologist reviewed the images for foci of pathological uptake; another specialist's opinion resolved discrepancies. The findings on 18F-FDG PET-CT studies were checked against clinical and/or histological findings. ResultsAbnormal 18F-FDG uptake on PET-CT that could explain the cause of the fever was found in 52 (56%) of the 93 studies, and the cause of the fever was confirmed in 50 of these 52 studies. In the 50 cases in which the cause of the fever was confirmed, infection was the most common cause (54%), followed by noninfectious inflammatory disease (28%) and tumors (18%). Conclusion18F-FDG PET-CT is useful in diagnosing the cause of prolonged febrile illness, so it might be practical to use it earlier in the diagnostic process.