Molecular Imaging of Diabetic Foot Infections: New Tools for Old Questions

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 20; no. 23; p. 5984
• Main Authors: Ruiz-Bedoya, Camilo A, Gordon, Oren, Mota, Filipa, Abhishek, Sudhanshu, Tucker, Elizabeth W, Ordonez, Alvaro A, Jain, Sanjay K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 28-11-2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Amputation; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Antibiotics; Bacteria; Bacterial infections; Bacterial Infections - diagnostic imaging; Bacterial Infections - drug therapy; Bacterial Infections - microbiology; Brain cancer; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetic Foot - diagnostic imaging; Diabetic Foot - drug therapy; Diabetic Foot - microbiology; Diagnosis; Feet; Foot diseases; Gram-negative bacteria; Gram-positive bacteria; Humans; Inflammation; Leg ulcers; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Medical imaging; Metabolism; Morbidity; Pathogens; Patients; Positron-Emission Tomography - methods; Review; Staphylococcus infections; radionuclides probes; PET imaging; MRI; SPECT imaging; bacterial infections; diabetes; diabetic foot infection
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms20235984

Diabetic foot infections (DFIs) are a common, complex, and costly medical problem with increasing prevalence. Diagnosing DFIs is a clinical challenge due to the poor specificity of the available methods to accurately determine the presence of infection in these patients. However, failure to perform an opportune diagnosis and provide optimal antibiotic therapy can lead to higher morbidity for the patient, unnecessary amputations, and increased healthcare costs. Novel developments in bacteria-specific molecular imaging can provide a non-invasive assessment of the infection site to support diagnosis, determine the extension and location of the infection, guide the selection of antibiotics, and monitor the response to treatment. This is a review of recent research in molecular imaging of infections in the context of DFI. We summarize different clinical and preclinical methods and the translational implications aimed to improve the care of patients with DFI.