CTA Chest There is limited evidence in the literature for the use of CTA chest for assessing patients with suspected infective endocarditis. The primary role of CTA chest is in evaluating complications of infective endocarditis such as septic pulmonary infarcts and abscesses as well as paravalvular abscess, depending on CTA acquisition technique [13,14]. CTA Coronary Arteries There is limited evidence in the literature for the use of coronary CTA (CCTA) for assessing patients with suspected infective endocarditis. CCTA has a role in preoperative planning and assessment of coronary artery disease before surgery [15,17], wherein the risks of selective coronary angiography may be considerable. Given the well- established high NPV of CCTA, its use for the presurgical assessment of significant coronary artery disease allows for a noninvasive alternative to cardiac catheterization [15,25,26]. Although the use of CCTA and CT-derived fractional flow reserve has not been studied in a patient population with suspected infective endocarditis, extrapolating from the available literature suggests that selective CT-derived fractional flow reserve in patients found to have coronary artery disease on CCTA may play a role in guiding treatment decisions [27,28]. Infective Endocarditis FDG-PET/CT Heart There is limited evidence in the literature for the use of fluorine-18-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG)-PET/CT in suspected infective endocarditis. One prospective study showed a low sensitivity of 39% for diagnosing infective endocarditis when compared with the modified Duke criteria [29]. Another retrospective study showed a sensitivity of 0% for diagnosing native valve endocarditis when compared with the modified Duke criteria [30]. Some recent studies have shown potential clinical value of FDG-PET/CT in infective endocarditis [31].
Infective Endocarditis. CTA Chest There is limited evidence in the literature for the use of CTA chest for assessing patients with suspected infective endocarditis. The primary role of CTA chest is in evaluating complications of infective endocarditis such as septic pulmonary infarcts and abscesses as well as paravalvular abscess, depending on CTA acquisition technique [13,14]. CTA Coronary Arteries There is limited evidence in the literature for the use of coronary CTA (CCTA) for assessing patients with suspected infective endocarditis. CCTA has a role in preoperative planning and assessment of coronary artery disease before surgery [15,17], wherein the risks of selective coronary angiography may be considerable. Given the well- established high NPV of CCTA, its use for the presurgical assessment of significant coronary artery disease allows for a noninvasive alternative to cardiac catheterization [15,25,26]. Although the use of CCTA and CT-derived fractional flow reserve has not been studied in a patient population with suspected infective endocarditis, extrapolating from the available literature suggests that selective CT-derived fractional flow reserve in patients found to have coronary artery disease on CCTA may play a role in guiding treatment decisions [27,28]. Infective Endocarditis FDG-PET/CT Heart There is limited evidence in the literature for the use of fluorine-18-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG)-PET/CT in suspected infective endocarditis. One prospective study showed a low sensitivity of 39% for diagnosing infective endocarditis when compared with the modified Duke criteria [29]. Another retrospective study showed a sensitivity of 0% for diagnosing native valve endocarditis when compared with the modified Duke criteria [30]. Some recent studies have shown potential clinical value of FDG-PET/CT in infective endocarditis [31].