Acute and Chronic Presentation of Melioidosis: 18F-FDG PET/CT Case Series

Melioidosis is an infectious disease that is caused by a gram-negative bacillus, <i>Burkholderia pseudomallei</i> , which has been designated as a category B bioterrorism agent by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Melioidosis manifests as a multi-system disorder. The effectiveness of ¹⁸ F-FDG PET/CT (18-fluorine-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography) in diagnosing or managing melioidosis is currently uncertain or not well-established. ¹⁸ F-FDG PET/CT is a useful tool in detecting the location and extent of abscess formation, assessing the organs involved, and detecting occult foci of infection, due to the multifocal nature of the disease. Herein, we present cases of two patients referred for a whole-body ¹⁸ F-FDG PET/CT scan with a history of pyrexia of unknown origin.