A prospective study of computed tomography, ultrasound, and gallium imaging in patients with fever.

Abstract

Computed tomography, ultrasound and 67Ga-citrate imaging were analyzed prospectively in patients thought to have a focal source of sepsis. They were divided into 3 groups: postoperative fever .gtoreq. 38.3.degree. C; fever .gtoreq. 38.3.degree. < 4 wk unrelated to surgery; and any fever present for > 4 wk. Receiver operating characteristic curves showed no significant difference in the ability of the 3 modalities to differentiae focal from nonfocal sources of sepsis. If any 2 examinatios were used and either study was abnormal, the sensitivity increased from .apprx. 60 to .apprx. 90% while the false-positive rate increased from .apprx. 15 to 25%. When focal disease was diagnosed only if 2 examinations were abnormal, the false-positive ratio dropped to nearly zero, but the sensitivity fell to below 40%. All 3 modalities had a similar ability to detect sepsis and sensitivity was increased by using any 2.