SynthesisJACC. Cardiovascular imaging2020
Diagnostic Accuracy of FDG PET/CT in Suspected LVAD Infections: A Case Series, Systematic Review, and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in JACC. Cardiovascular imaging, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 75 citations in OpenAlex.
- EANM/SNMMI guideline/procedure standard for [European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2025Guideline
- The value ofEuropean journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2021Pooled it
- Occult Candidemia in Durable Mechanical Support: Reconsidering Infection Surveillance in the Afebrile LVAD Patient.JACC. Case reports · 2026Article
- Infections in mechanical circulatory support.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Review
- Multiple Imaging Modalities in the Diagnosis of Infective Endocarditis.Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Review
- Review
- Innovations in Imaging:Current cardiology reports · 2024Review
- Cardiovascular imaging in cardio-oncology.Japanese journal of radiology · 2024Review
- Infections in Patients with Mechanical Circulatory Support.Infectious disease clinics of North America · 2024Review
- The Predictive Role of Metabolic Volume Segmentation Compared to Semiquantitative PET Parameters in Diagnosis of LVAD Infection using [Molecular imaging and biology · 2024Article
- The Journal of heart and lung transplantation : the official publication of the International Society for Heart Transplantation · 2024Article
- Current status and perspectives of nuclear cardiology.Annals of nuclear medicine · 2024Review
- Interplay between driveline infection, vessel wall inflammation, cerebrovascular events and mortality in patients with left ventricular assist device.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Left ventricular assist device exchange: a review of indications, operative procedure, and outcomes.Indian journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery · 2023Review
- Added value of semi-quantitative analysis of [18F]FDG PET/CT for the diagnosis of device-related infections in patients with a left ventricular assist device.European heart journal. Cardiovascular Imaging · 2023Article
- Emerging PET Tracers in Cardiac Molecular Imaging.Cardiology and therapy · 2023Review
- The role of innovative modeling and imaging techniques in improving outcomes in patients with LVAD.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2023Review
- FDG PET/CT in Cardiac Infection: Does It Matter? A Narrative Review.Infectious diseases and therapy · 2022Review
- The Role of Cardiac Imaging in Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction.Cardiac failure review · 2022Review
- Nuclear Imaging in Infective Endocarditis.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThe purpose of this study was to describe our experience with fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography computed tomography (PET/CT) in diagnosing left ventricular assist device (LVAD) infections and perform a meta-analysis of published studies to determine overall diagnostic accuracy.
backgroundDevice-related infections are a common complication of LVADs and are linked to worse outcomes. Diagnosis of LVAD infections remains challenging. FDG PET/CT has demonstrated good diagnostic accuracy in several other infectious conditions.
methodsThis was a single-center, retrospective case series of FDG PET/CT scans in suspected LVAD infection between September 2015 and February 2018. A systematic review of PubMed from database inception through March 2018 was also conducted to identify additional studies.
resultsNineteen FDG PET/CT scans were identified for the retrospective case series. The systematic review identified an additional 3 publications, for a total of 4 studies involving 119 scans assessing diagnostic performance. Axial (n = 36) and centrifugal (n = 83) flow LVADs were represented. Pooled sensitivity was 92% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 82% to 97%) and specificity was 83% (95% CI: 24% to 99%) for FDG PET/CT in diagnosing LVAD infections. Summary receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated an AUC of 0.94 (95% CI: 0.91 to 0.95).
conclusionsFDG PET/CT for suspected LVAD infections demonstrates good diagnostic accuracy, with overall high sensitivity but variable specificity.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.