{"paper_id":"068f9187-d4cc-4f7c-92aa-c8eca4915812","body_text":"18F-FDG PET/CT in diagnosis and management of Mycobacterium chimaera infection following cardiac surgery: a single-centre experience with nine consecutive patients | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article 18F-FDG PET/CT in diagnosis and management of Mycobacterium chimaera infection following cardiac surgery: a single-centre experience with nine consecutive patients Samuele Ave, Giuliana Battagin, Marta Zaroccolo, Marcella Greco, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3955663/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Purpose to evaluate the role of seriated 18-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography ( 18 F-FDG PET-CT) in the diagnosis and management of disseminated Mycobacterium chimaera infection following cardiac surgery. Methods we retrospectively describe nine consecutive confirmed cases of disseminated M. chimaera infection after cardiac surgery who underwent seriated 18 F-FDG PET/CT to facilitate the diagnosis and treatment monitoring. Clinical characteristics, laboratory tests and microbial culture microbiological findings, transthoracic (TTE) and transesophageal (TOE) echocardiography, brain MR and other tests are also discussed. Results T he mean time between cardiac surgery and symptoms onset was 32 months (range 10 months to 7.7 years). Echocardiography (TTE + TOE ) detected endocarditis (IE) signs in 3/9 patients (sensibility 33%, 6/9 pts having mechanical aortic valve); blood culture was positive in 5/9 patients (sens. 56%). At diagnosis 7/9 PET/CT scans were positive for IE and/or aortic root prosthesis infection (sens. 78%). All diagnostic PET/CT scans were suggestive for systemic infection with hypermetabolism in one or more extracardiac sites (e.g.: lymph nodes, lung, muscle, liver spleen, kidney, CNS, axial skeleton). Conclusions 18 F-FDG PET/CT proved to be a useful tool in diagnosis of disseminated M. chimaera infection to assess the extent and to identify potential sites of biopsy when routine microbiological work-up does not isolate M. chimaera . Seriated scans define the activity of disease over time and contribute to clinical work-up as prolongation or modulation of antimicrobial therapy, prognosis formulation and referral to revision surgery. infective endocarditis prosthetic valve aortic graft 18F-FDG PET/CT Mycobacterium chimaera cardiac surgery Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {\"props\":{\"pageProps\":{\"initialData\":{\"identity\":\"rs-3955663\",\"acceptedTermsAndConditions\":true,\"allowDirectSubmit\":true,\"archivedVersions\":[],\"articleType\":\"Research Article\",\"associatedPublications\":[],\"authors\":[{\"id\":272930946,\"identity\":\"ed072f32-98a4-42b3-a749-5f1557d88748\",\"order_by\":0,\"name\":\"Samuele 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Square\",\"twitterHandle\":\"researchsquare\",\"acdcEnabled\":true,\"dfaEnabled\":false,\"editorialSystem\":\"\",\"reportingPortfolio\":\"\",\"inReviewEnabled\":false,\"inReviewRevisionsEnabled\":true},\"keywords\":\"infective endocarditis, prosthetic valve, aortic graft, 18F-FDG PET/CT, Mycobacterium chimaera, cardiac surgery\",\"lastPublishedDoi\":\"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3955663/v1\",\"lastPublishedDoiUrl\":\"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3955663/v1\",\"license\":{\"name\":\"CC BY 4.0\",\"url\":\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/\"},\"manuscriptAbstract\":\"\\u003ch2\\u003ePurpose\\u003c/h2\\u003e \\u003cp\\u003eto evaluate the role of seriated 18-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (\\u003csup\\u003e18\\u003c/sup\\u003eF-FDG PET-CT) in the diagnosis and management of disseminated \\u003cem\\u003eMycobacterium chimaera\\u003c/em\\u003e infection following cardiac surgery.\\u003c/p\\u003e\\u003ch2\\u003eMethods\\u003c/h2\\u003e \\u003cp\\u003ewe retrospectively describe nine consecutive confirmed cases of disseminated \\u003cem\\u003eM. chimaera\\u003c/em\\u003e infection after cardiac surgery who underwent seriated \\u003csup\\u003e18\\u003c/sup\\u003eF-FDG PET/CT to facilitate the diagnosis and treatment monitoring. Clinical characteristics, laboratory tests and microbial culture microbiological findings, transthoracic (TTE) and transesophageal (TOE) echocardiography, brain MR and other tests are also discussed.\\u003c/p\\u003e\\u003ch2\\u003eResults\\u003c/h2\\u003e \\u003cp\\u003eT\\u003cspan type=\\\"SmallCaps\\\" class=\\\"SmallCaps\\\" name=\\\"Emphasis\\\"\\u003ehe mean time between cardiac surgery and symptoms onset was 32 months (range 10 months to 7.7 years). Echocardiography\\u003c/span\\u003e \\u003cspan type=\\\"SmallCaps\\\" class=\\\"SmallCaps\\\" name=\\\"Emphasis\\\"\\u003e(TTE\\u0026thinsp;+\\u0026thinsp;TOE ) detected endocarditis (IE) signs in 3/9 patients (sensibility 33%, 6/9 pts having mechanical aortic valve); blood culture was positive in 5/9 patients (sens. 56%). At diagnosis 7/9 PET/CT scans were positive for IE and/or aortic root prosthesis infection (sens. 78%). All diagnostic PET/CT scans were suggestive for systemic infection with hypermetabolism in one or more extracardiac sites (e.g.: lymph nodes, lung, muscle, liver spleen, kidney, CNS, axial skeleton).\\u003c/span\\u003e\\u003c/p\\u003e\\u003ch2\\u003eConclusions\\u003c/h2\\u003e \\u003cp\\u003e \\u003csup\\u003e18\\u003c/sup\\u003eF-FDG \\u003cspan type=\\\"SmallCaps\\\" class=\\\"SmallCaps\\\" name=\\\"Emphasis\\\"\\u003ePET/CT proved to be a useful tool in diagnosis of disseminated\\u003c/span\\u003e \\u003cspan type=\\\"ItalicSmallCaps\\\" class=\\\"ItalicSmallCaps\\\" name=\\\"Emphasis\\\"\\u003eM. chimaera\\u003c/span\\u003e \\u003cspan type=\\\"SmallCaps\\\" class=\\\"SmallCaps\\\" name=\\\"Emphasis\\\"\\u003einfection to assess the extent and to identify potential sites of biopsy when routine microbiological work-up does not isolate\\u003c/span\\u003e \\u003cspan type=\\\"ItalicSmallCaps\\\" class=\\\"ItalicSmallCaps\\\" name=\\\"Emphasis\\\"\\u003eM. chimaera\\u003c/span\\u003e. \\u003cspan type=\\\"SmallCaps\\\" class=\\\"SmallCaps\\\" name=\\\"Emphasis\\\"\\u003eSeriated scans define the activity of disease over time and contribute to clinical work-up as prolongation or modulation of antimicrobial therapy, prognosis formulation and referral to revision surgery.\\u003c/span\\u003e\\u003c/p\\u003e\",\"manuscriptTitle\":\"18F-FDG PET/CT in diagnosis and management of Mycobacterium chimaera infection following cardiac surgery: a single-centre experience with nine consecutive patients\",\"msid\":\"\",\"msnumber\":\"\",\"nonDraftVersions\":[{\"code\":1,\"date\":\"2024-02-16 20:51:58\",\"doi\":\"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3955663/v1\",\"editorialEvents\":[{\"type\":\"communityComments\",\"content\":0}],\"status\":\"published\",\"journal\":{\"display\":true,\"email\":\"info@researchsquare.com\",\"identity\":\"researchsquare\",\"isNatureJournal\":false,\"hasQc\":true,\"allowDirectSubmit\":true,\"externalIdentity\":\"\",\"sideBox\":\"\",\"snPcode\":\"\",\"submissionUrl\":\"/submission\",\"title\":\"Research Square\",\"twitterHandle\":\"researchsquare\",\"acdcEnabled\":true,\"dfaEnabled\":false,\"editorialSystem\":\"\",\"reportingPortfolio\":\"\",\"inReviewEnabled\":false,\"inReviewRevisionsEnabled\":true}}],\"origin\":\"\",\"ownerIdentity\":\"47e947b2-b618-4532-a691-96316cc7f218\",\"owner\":[],\"postedDate\":\"February 16th, 2024\",\"published\":true,\"recentEditorialEvents\":[],\"rejectedJournal\":[],\"revision\":\"\",\"amendment\":\"\",\"status\":\"posted\",\"subjectAreas\":[],\"tags\":[],\"updatedAt\":\"2024-03-04T06:31:32+00:00\",\"versionOfRecord\":[],\"versionCreatedAt\":\"2024-02-16 20:51:58\",\"video\":\"\",\"vorDoi\":\"\",\"vorDoiUrl\":\"\",\"workflowStages\":[]},\"version\":\"v1\",\"identity\":\"rs-3955663\",\"journalConfig\":\"researchsquare\"},\"__N_SSP\":true},\"page\":\"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]\",\"query\":{\"redirect\":\"/article/rs-3955663\",\"identity\":\"rs-3955663\",\"version\":[\"v1\"]},\"buildId\":\"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt\",\"isFallback\":false,\"isExperimentalCompile\":false,\"dynamicIds\":[84888],\"gssp\":true,\"scriptLoader\":[]}","source_license":"CC-BY-4.0","license_restricted":false}