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Gallium-SPECT in the Detection of Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis and Aortic Ring Abscess

Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Division of Nuclear Medicine, and Department of Cardiology, Victoria General Hospital Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Correspondence: For reprints contact: Kathleen O'Brien, MD, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Victoria General Hospital, 1278 Tower Rd., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 2Y9.

ABSTRACT

A 52-yr-old man who had a bioprosthetic aortic valve developed Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. Despite antibiotic therapy he had persistent pyrexia and developed new conduction system disturbances. Echocardiography did not demonstrate vegetations on the valve or an abscess, but gallium scintigraphy using SPECT clearly identified a focus of intense activity in the region of the aortic valve. The presence of valvular vegetations and a septal abscess was confirmed at autopsy. Gallium scintigraphy, using SPECT, provided a useful noninvasive method for the demonstration of endocarditis and the associated valve ring abscess.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C Piper, R Körfer, and D Horstkotte VALVE DISEASE: Prosthetic valve endocarditis Heart, May 1, 2001; 85(5): 590 - 593. [Full Text]