Arteriovenous fistula stent infection diagnosed with radiolabelled leucocyte scintigraphy

Abstract

Infectious complications of haemodialysis in patients with arteriovenous fistula stent are rare. In addition, patients with low-grade infection are more difficult to diagnose. Here, we report the first case of low-grade infection of an arteriovenous fistula stent diagnosed using ^99mTc-hexamethylpropylene amine oxime (HMPAO)-labelled leucocyte scintigraphy. A 62-year-old man with end-stage renal disease was referred for prolonged fever. We performed ^99mTc-HMPAO-labelled leucocyte scintigraphy following a work-up according to fever of unknown origin. A focal uptake on the left forearm compatible with the arteriovenous fistula stent insertion site was shown, and the stent was removed. ^99mTc-HMPAO-labelled leucocyte scintigraphy could be a suitable method for assessing vascular stent infection in low-grade fever.

Keywords::

• Arteriovenous fistula
• hexamethylpropylene amine oxime
• radionuclide imaging
• stents

Declaration of interest: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

ORCID: Jeong Rae Yoo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5488-7925.