Abstract:
Bacterial infections are the main cause of patient morbidity and mortality worldwide.
Diagnosis can be di cult and delayed as well as the identification of the etiological pathogen,
necessary for a tailored antibiotic therapy. Several non-invasive diagnostic procedures are available,
all with pros and cons. Molecular nuclear medicine has highly contributed in this field by proposing
several di erent radiopharmaceuticals (antimicrobial peptides, leukocytes, cytokines, antibiotics,
sugars, etc.) but none proved to be highly specific for bacteria, although many agents in development
look promising. Indeed, factors including the number and strain of bacteria, the infection site, and the
host condition, may a ect the specificity of the tested radiopharmaceuticals. At the Third European
Congress on Infection/Inflammation Imaging, a round table discussion was dedicated to debate the
pros and cons of di erent radiopharmaceuticals for imaging bacteria with the final goal to find a
consensus on the most relevant research steps that should be fulfilled when testing a new probe,
based on experience and cumulative published evidence.
Description:
Conceptualization of this paper was made by A.S. and M.S.; data were obtained and
analyzed by G.F.-F., M.M.W. and S.K.J. and S.H.; draft preparation by M.C. and A.S.; review and editing by A.S.,
V.A., M.C., G.F.-F., M.M.W., S.K.J., S.H. and M.S.