Impact of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography on diagnosis and antimicrobial utilization in patients with high-risk febrile neutropenia

Abstract

Early and targeted antimicrobial therapy improves outcomes in patients with febrile neutropenia (FN). We evaluated the impact of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) on antimicrobial utilization in the management of FN. A cohort of patients with FN and hematological malignancy was identified. Cases (in whom FDG-PET was performed, n 37) were compared with controls (in whom conventional investigations excluding FDG-PET were performed, n 76). An underlying cause for FN was determined in 94.6% of cases, compared to 69.7% of controls. FDG-PET had a significant impact on antimicrobial utilization compared to conventional imaging (35.1% vs. 11.8%; p 0.003), and was ..