Utility of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in the etiological diagnosis of unexplained inflammatory syndromes: A retrospective study of 25 cases

Abstract

Positron emission tomography integrated with computed tomography using 2-deoxy-2-[fluorine-18]fluoro-D-glucose (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT) plays a critical role in the localization, diagnosis, and management of infectious diseases and inflammatory disorders. This hybrid imaging modality provides morpho-metabolic information that aids in defining the etiology of unexplained inflammatory syndromes and assessing treatment response. A key advantage of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT is its ability to provide a comprehensive, “all in one” diagnostic solution, particularly in cases where localizing symptoms are absent, facilitating the identification of metastatic and/or septic foci. Recently, there has been increasing recognition among clinicians of its potential in diagnosing, characterizing, and assessing inflammatory disorders. This study evaluates the clinical utility of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in identifying the etiology of inflammatory syndromes by analyzing 25 patients with unexplained inflammatory disorders. The findings highlight the high reproducibility, sensitivity, and specificity of this imaging modality in this context.

Keywords

¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT / Unexplained inflammatory syndromes / Predictive values

Acknowledgments

None.

Funding

None.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Author contributions

Conceptualization: Salah Oueriagli Nabih, Meryem Aboussabr, Ikram Zahfir, Formal analysis: Salah Oueriagli Nabih, Meryem Aboussabr.

Investigation: Omar Ait Sahel, Yassir Benameur

Methodology: Salah Oueriagli Nabih

Writing - original draft: Salah Oueriagli Nabih

Writing - review & editing: Salah Oueriagli Nabih, Abderrahim Doudouh

Ethics approval and consent to participate

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional and/or National Research Committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this interesting image, formal consent is not required.

Consent for publication

Written informed consent was obtained from all patients for publication.

Availability of data

Authors make available to all scientists, documents described in the manuscript, including new software, databases, and all relevant raw data.

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