The dilemma of diagnosing fever of unknown origin: large arteries vasculitis revealed by 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging. A case report

Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2011 Oct;15(10):1227-30.

Abstract

Fever of unknown origin (FUO) is an uncommon disease, and its underlying etiology may include a number causes, i.e., infections, malignancies, autoimmune conditions. Diagnosis is often a difficult task, and usually physician spend time and money in order to define the etiology of FUO. We report a case of patient who presented with FUO and headache, and positron emission tomography (PET) with 2-deoxy-2-[fluorine-18] fluoro-D-glucose (18F-FDG) allowed to reveal the presence of a large vessel vasculitis. 18F-FDG PET may represent an useful tool in patients with FUO, since it can early depict an hypermetabolic activity due to inflammation and so help to achieve a final diagnosis in some cases of FUO.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Female
  • Fever of Unknown Origin / diagnosis*
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18*
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Multimodal Imaging / methods*
  • Positron-Emission Tomography*
  • Radiopharmaceuticals*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed*
  • Vasculitis / diagnostic imaging*

Substances

  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18