Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.7
3.0
Journals
Diagnostics
Special Issues
Advances in Inflammation and Infection Imaging
share announcement

Advances in Inflammation and Infection Imaging

A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418). This special issue belongs to the section "Medical Imaging and Theranostics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 3407

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Giorgio Treglia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Nuclear Medicine, Imaging Institute of Southern Switzerland, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland
Interests: PET; nuclear medicine; hybrid imaging; meta-analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Infectious and inflammatory diseases include a large group of diseases with different aetiologies. Infection is the invasion of a host organism by microorganisms such as viruses, prions, bacteria, and viroids, as well as larger organisms like parasites and fungal organisms. After invasion, these organisms may multiply and produce toxins. Hosts can fight infections using their immune system, usually producing inflammation.

Inflammation is part of the complex biological response by the organism to harmful stimuli such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. Inflammation is not a synonym for infection; we almost always have inflammation associated with an infection, but we do not always have an infection if there is inflammation.

Several imaging methods may allow for the early, non-invasive detection of infectious and inflammatory diseases; in particular, molecular imaging methods may be very useful for the measurement of cellular and molecular processes in living subjects related to infectious and inflammatory diseases.

This Special Issue will highlight the advances of imaging methods in infectious and inflammatory diseases, in particular for the diagnosis and the assessment of response to therapy. Researchers are encouraged to submit both preclinical and clinical studies in the field. Clinical studies may include systematic or narrative reviews and retrospective or prospective studies emphasizing the role and need of imaging techniques in infectious or inflammatory diseases.

Prof. Dr. Giorgio Treglia
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diagnostics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • imaging
  • infection
  • inflammation
  • radiology
  • nuclear medicine
  • molecular imaging
  • hybrid imaging

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Other

11 pages, 7053 KiB  
Article
Diagnostic Value of Increased [18F]FDG Uptake in Locoregional Lymph Nodes on PET/CT in Patients with Suspected Fracture-Related Infection
by Paul Bosch, Andor W. J. M. Glaudemans, Jean-Paul P. M. de Vries, Johannes H. van Snick, Justin V. C. Lemans, Janna van den Kieboom, Monique G. G. Hobbelink, Geertje A. M. Govaert and Frank F. A. IJpma
Diagnostics 2025, 15(5), 616; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15050616 - 4 Mar 2025
Viewed by 455
Abstract
Background: Diagnosing fracture-related infection (FRI) without clinical confirmatory signs is challenging. [18F]FDG-PET/CT has been shown to have good diagnostic accuracy. However, direct interpretation criteria are lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic value of increased FDG-uptake in locoregional lymph [...] Read more.
Background: Diagnosing fracture-related infection (FRI) without clinical confirmatory signs is challenging. [18F]FDG-PET/CT has been shown to have good diagnostic accuracy. However, direct interpretation criteria are lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic value of increased FDG-uptake in locoregional lymph nodes on [18F]FDG-PET/CT in patients with suspected upper and lower extremity FRI. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent [18F]FDG-PET/CT for suspected extremity FRI in two tertiary referral centers between January 2011 and December 2023. The sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic value of the presence, number and intensity of [18F]FDG uptake in locoregional lymph nodes was assessed. Uptake intensity was measured by calculating the maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) of the ‘hottest’ lymph node. All scans were acquired according to the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) standards, and quantification was performed based on standardized EARL reconstructed images. FRI was diagnosed based on positive intra-operative microbiology results or development of clinical confirmatory signs within six months of follow-up. Results: One-hundred-and-twenty-four patients were included in the analysis, with 71 cases of confirmed FRI. The presence of locoregional lymph nodes alone showed poor diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity 55%, specificity 68%, diagnostic accuracy 62%). The number of active lymph nodes showed poor discriminative performance between FRI and non-infectious cases (AUC 0.63). Utilizing the SUVmax of the ‘hottest’ lymph nodes showed a moderate discriminative performance with an AUC of 0.71. The optimal cutoff point (SUVmax 3.48) resulted in a sensitivity of 72%, a specificity of 78% and a diagnostic accuracy of 75%. A logistic regression model was fitted to calculate the added value of lymph node assessment to the regular [18F]FDG-PET/CT assessment. This resulted in a sensitivity of 71%, a specificity of 82% and a diagnostic accuracy of 76%. Conclusions: Presence and number of locoregional lymph nodes with increased [18F]FDG-uptake alone has poor diagnostic accuracy for FRI. The SUVmax of the ‘hottest’ lymph node showed moderate diagnostic performance. Lymph node assessment slightly increased the diagnostic value of regular [18F]FDG-PET/CT assessment. Based on these results, increased [18F]FDG-uptake in locoregional lymph nodes should only be considered as a suggestive sign for a positive scan result in suspected FRI. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Inflammation and Infection Imaging)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 94490 KiB  
Article
Histopathological Evaluation of Somatostatin Receptor 2 Expression in Myocarditis—Rationale for the Diagnostic Use of Somatostatin Receptor Imaging
by Christian L. Polte, Kittichate Visuttijai, Kristina Vukusic, Joakim Sandstedt, Mikael Sandstedt, Emanuele Bobbio, Marie Björkenstam, Kristjan Karason, Niklas Bergh, Entela Bollano and Anders Oldfors
Diagnostics 2024, 14(21), 2374; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14212374 - 24 Oct 2024
Viewed by 964
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the myocardium and remains to this day a challenging diagnosis. A promising novel imaging method uses the expression of somatostatin receptors (SSTRs) on inflammatory cells to visualize myocardial inflammation. However, little is known about the histopathological [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the myocardium and remains to this day a challenging diagnosis. A promising novel imaging method uses the expression of somatostatin receptors (SSTRs) on inflammatory cells to visualize myocardial inflammation. However, little is known about the histopathological correlate of SSTR imaging in different forms of myocarditis. Methods: In the present retrospective histopathological study, we systematically analysed the expression of SSTR subtype 2 (SSTR2) on inflammatory cells of 33 patients with biopsy- or explant-proven myocarditis (lymphocytic myocarditis (n = 5), giant-cell myocarditis (n = 11), and cardiac sarcoidosis (n = 17)), and in eight controls (multi-organ donors) without signs of myocardial inflammation and/or scars. Results: In all patients, immunohistochemical staining for SSTR2 was positive in areas with CD68-positive macrophages and multinucleated giant cells. Staining for SSTR2 was most prominent in the presence of multinucleated giant cells. The colocalization of both SSTR2 and CD68 on the same cell could be confirmed using immunofluorescence microscopy. Western blotting confirmed the upregulated expression of SSTR2 in cases of granulomatous inflammation (sarcoidosis) of the skeletal and heart muscle, in comparison with controls. Conclusions: In conclusion, our findings demonstrate the expression of SSTR2 on the protein level on CD68-positive macrophages and multinucleated giant cells in various forms of myocarditis, which provides a clear rationale for the diagnostic use of SSTR imaging in this patient group. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Inflammation and Infection Imaging)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Other

Jump to: Research

14 pages, 1842 KiB  
Systematic Review
Performance of [18F]FDG PET/CT in Diagnosing Cyst Infections in Patients with Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease: A Systematic Review and a Bivariate Meta-Analysis
by Giorgio Treglia, Domenico Albano, Alessio Rizzo, Antonio Bellasi, Andor W. J. M. Glaudemans and Olivier Gheysens
Diagnostics 2024, 14(15), 1603; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14151603 - 25 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1427
Abstract
Background: Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ([18F]FDG PET/CT) has been suggested as a useful imaging method for diagnosing cyst infections in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). The aim of this article is to provide evidence-based data in [...] Read more.
Background: Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ([18F]FDG PET/CT) has been suggested as a useful imaging method for diagnosing cyst infections in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). The aim of this article is to provide evidence-based data in this setting. Methods: A systematic literature review (exploring several bibliographic databases) and a bivariate meta-analysis were carried out to calculate the pooled diagnostic performance of [18F]FDG PET/CT in diagnosing probable cyst infection in ADPKD. Results: Ten studies (282 PET/CT scans and 249 patients) were included in the analysis. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of [18F]FDG PET/CT in this setting were 84.6% (95% confidence interval: 75.4–90.7) and 94.9% (95% confidence interval: 72.6–99.2), respectively, without statistical heterogeneity or significant publication bias. [18F]FDG PET/CT significantly changed patient management in more than half of ADPKD patients with suspected cyst infection. Conclusions: [18F]FDG PET/CT has high performance in diagnosing probable cyst infections in ADPKD patients with an impact on management in the majority of patients. Although more studies are warranted, the provided evidence-based data are an important step towards the integration of [18F]FDG PET/CT in clinical and diagnostic guidelines on probable cyst infection in ADPKD patients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Inflammation and Infection Imaging)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop