Sandip Basu, MBBS

In recent years, several groups have demonstrated the promise of FDG-PET imaging in the management of patients with suspected and/or documented infection. This technique appears to be particularly useful in the evaluation of osteomyelitis, infected prostheses, fever of unknown origin, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Considering the extraordinary sensitivity of FDG-PET in detecting disease activity and nonactivity in malignant and benign disorders, this powerful method may prove valuable also in a variety of infectious processes. We speculate that it will be widely employed in the near future for detecting, characterizing, and monitoring patients with suspected or proven infection.