Serial Imaging Follow-Up After the Diagnosis of Infectious Aortitis

A 76-year-old man with methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus infection was admitted to the hospital with protracted fever and vomiting. Although computed tomography (CT) at the time of hospitalization was unremarkable, ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/CT revealed a focal FDG uptake with a low density mass around the abdominal aorta, which was diagnosed as infectious aortitis. Follow-up CT was repeated every 2 weeks, showing the appearance of the gradually growing low density area around the abdominal aorta. This paper illustrates that ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT is a sensitive imaging modality suitable for the early diagnosis of infectious aortitis, which can made at least a month earlier than by CT.