Fever seven weeks after valve surgery
History
69-year-old man with a surgical bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement 7 weeks ago and a dual-chamber pacemaker (left pectoral) implanted 4 years ago. Fever for 10 days; Enterococcus faecalis in 3 of 3 blood culture sets. Transoesophageal echocardiography shows a thickened prosthetic annulus without a definite vegetation or abscess, and normal-looking leads. Modified Duke classification: possible endocarditis. FDG PET/CT after a 24-h high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet and a 12-h fast.
Step 1 · The valve
The myocardium is well suppressed. Around the prosthetic aortic valve there is intense, focal and heterogeneous uptake. How should the valve uptake be interpreted under the 2023 ESC criteria?