Seminars in musculoskeletal radiology
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Early diagnosis of musculoskeletal infections is the key to successful therapy and prevention of complications. Fluorine-18 (F-18) fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is a promising modality for imaging musculoskeletal infection and might play an important role in the evaluation of chronic osteomyelitis and spinal infection. FDG-PET has shown promising results for diagnosing both acute and chronic infection of the axial and appendicular skeletons. ⋯ PET/CT with the combination of PET and a low-dose or full-dose diagnostic CT provides exact anatomical correlation of bone and joint lesions and increases the accuracy of the test compared with PET alone. The question of in which situations PET/CT becomes the preferred imaging method in suspected musculoskeletal infection depends on several factors, including cost and availability. This article reviews the currently available literature and addresses the use of FDG-PET/CT in the diagnosis of musculoskeletal infections.