Rising Utilization of Pets for Detecting Infections in Cardiac Devices

In a significant development, a study presented by Abdul Khan, MD, of the University of Missouri Kansas City, at the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology annual meeting in Orlando, FL on September 5, has revealed a dramatic increase in the use of F-18 FDG-PET scans for diagnosing infected cardiac prosthetic devices.

The study, which analysed patient data from the TriNetX database, a global network of deidentified electronic health records and other real-world data from healthcare organizations, found that the use of F-18 FDG-PET for diagnosing infected cardiac prosthetic devices increased dramatically from 2010 to 2024. This increase reflects an approximately 830% increase over the period.

The study period was divided into five distinct windows (2010 to 2012, 2013 to 2015, 2016 to 2018, 2019 to 2021, and 2022 to 2024). The study further stratified data by gender, race, and ethnicity.

During the last two years of the study (2022 to 2024), the incidence proportion of FDG-PET diagnosed infections for men was 1.42, higher than the 1.01 for women during the same period. Among different racial and ethnic groups, African Americans had the highest incidence proportion (0.69) for FDG-PET diagnosed infections throughout the study period, followed by Native Americans (0.685), whites (0.62), Hispanics (0.48), and Native Hawaiians (0.24).

Hispanic patients recorded the highest increase in incidence proportion (2,152%) for FDG-PET diagnosed infections, followed by Black or African American patients (1,160%). On the other hand, Native American and Asian patients recorded decreases in utilization of FDG-PET for diagnosing infected cardiac prostheses (-20% and -37%, respectively).

F-18 FDG-PET scan usage was quantified by calculating incidence proportions for FDG-PET-diagnosed infections and incidence rates (cases per person-day). The overall incidence proportion of F-18 FDG-PET-diagnosed infections increased from 0.13% to 1.21% (per 1,000 patients). The incidence rate for FDG-PET diagnosed infections increased from 0.14 to 1.49 cases/100,000 person-days, reflecting a 960% rise.

Integrating F-18 FDG-PET into standardized diagnostic protocols could enhance early detection and management of cardiac device-related infections, according to the study findings. F-18 FDG-PET has emerged as a highly sensitive and specific modality for detecting inflammatory processes, including infections associated with cardiac prostheses.

However, the search results do not provide specific information about which institutions increased the number of F-18 FDG-PET scans for diagnosing infected cardiac prostheses between 2022 and 2024. The study's findings underscore the growing importance of F-18 FDG-PET in the diagnosis and management of cardiac device-related infections.