Infection following hip arthroplasties can present a diagnostic challenge. No
test is 100 % sensitive and 100 % specific; this prospective study was undertaken
to evaluate the utility of FDG-PET imaging for diagnosing infected joint
replacements. 24 hip joint replacements were studied prospectively and we have
complete diagnoses with clinical signs and symptoms, laboratory test,
radiography, joint aspiration, radionuclide imaging including FDG-PET, and
histopathologic examination. 11 of 24 prostheses were infected. The sensitivity
and specificity of PET for detecting infection associated with prostheses were
64,3 % and 64,7 % respectively, in our hands. FDG imaging is not useful in
patients with suspected prosthetic infection like a screening tes
