PET-CT IN THE EVALUATION OF FEVER OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN

One of the most challenging medical cases is the undiagnosed fever after appropriate medical evaluation. Fever of unknown origin (FUO) is often caused by common conditions, but with unusual manifestations. Several procedures are usually performed to find the cause of fever: Extensive medical history, clinical examination, basic laboratory tests, serology, screening methods, cultures, immunologic tests, images and biopsies. Despite all these tests, about 10% up to 40% of patients with FUO are never diagnosed. The estimate average cost per patient, before PET is performed, is reported to be $12.138. The enormous cost of these diagnostic procedures, as well as patients’ burden, can be significantly decreased if a few tests are enough to find the cause of the fever. Many studies agree that the F-FDG PET/CT modality is extremely useful as one of the initial diagnostic tools in cases of FUO. It is a technique with high sensitivity for malignancy, infection and inflammation, which are the most often associated causes of this entity, making it the ideal modality for the diagnostic investigation and substantially decreasing medical costs.