Background:
We sought to evaluate the potential role of positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET–CT) for the detection and diagnosis of potential infections of vascular grafts using combining metabolic (i.e., radioactive fluorine-fluoro-D-deoxyglucose (18F-FDG)) PET with morphological (CT) information and investigate long-term capability.

Material and Methods:
Seventeen patients with suspected vascular-graft infection underwent thoracic– abdominal–pelvic FDG PET combined with contrast-enhanced CT using a hybrid PET–CT scanner providing co-registered PET and CT images.

Result:
In this retrospect study, we suspected graft infection in 14 of 17 patients detected using PET–CT and increased the maximal uptake of 18F-FDG around the grafts. Other vascular localisations were not observed. All patients with positive PET–CT results underwent redo- surgery, and the infection was ultimately confirmed using microbiological testing in 12 of 14 patients. We performed stable clinical follow-up with a median of 58 months (range 36-73 months) for all 17 patients. In these patients, there was no further evidence of graft infection found on clinical and imaging follow-up and no infection-associated hospitalization.

Conclusion:
This is first investigation presenting long-term follow-up, which confirmed that 18F-FDG-PET/CT is an excellent diagnostic modality for suspected vascular graft infection. 18F-FDG PET-CT exhibited a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 71.4% for the detection of vascular-graft infection. An early diagnosis of prosthetic infection with 18F-FDG-PET/CT and rapid treatment ensures good long term results.