Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine
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Graft infection after prosthetic vascular reconstruction is an uncommon but severe complication. The clinical presentation is often subtle and nonspecific and may occur long after surgery. Although defining a prosthetic vascular graft infection can be difficult, early diagnosis and treatment are important because of the relatively high rates of amputation and death. The present study assessed the role of PET/CT using 18F-FDG for the diagnosis of vascular graft infections. ⋯ 18F-FDG PET/CT is a reliable noninvasive imaging modality for the diagnosis of vascular graft-related infection. The precise anatomic localization of increased 18F-FDG uptake provided by PET/CT enables accurate differentiation between graft and soft-tissue infection.
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Patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) are commonly at high risk of recurrence within 2 y after initial treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with possibly recurrent ESCC who underwent definitive treatment. ⋯ 18F-FDG PET/CT is highly effective for detecting recurrent ESCC. The relatively low specificity at local sites is associated primarily with a high rate of false-positive interpretations at anastomoses. PET/CT can also provide noninvasive and independent prognostic information using SUV and recurrent disease pattern on PET/CT images for previously treated ESCC.