Risk Factors for Infective Endocarditis and Serious Injection Related Infections Among People Who Inject Drugs in Los Angeles, CA and Denver, CO.

Background: Injection drug use-related infective endocarditis (IDU-IE) and bacterial infections have grown in the United States, but little is known about risk factors for these infections in community samples of people who inject drugs (PWID).

Methods: During 2021-22, PWID were recruited from community settings and surveyed for history of IDU-IE, serious injection related symptoms (SIRI) and untreated infection symptoms in the last 3 months. We used bivariate analysis and multiple logistic regression to examine factors associated with these outcomes.

Unexpected focal hypermetabolic activity in the breast: significance in patients undergoing 18F-FDG PET/CT.

Objective: We describe the significance of detecting focal areas of hypermetabolism in the breast in patients undergoing PET/CT for reasons other than for breast cancer detection or staging.

Conclusion: When evaluated, almost all of the abnormal foci detected in the breast subsequently proved to be breast carcinoma, specifically infiltrating ductal carcinoma.

2-deoxy-2-[F-18]fluoro-D-glucose imaging with positron emission tomography for initial staging of Hodgkin's disease and lymphoma.

Purpose: To assess the accuracy of 2-Deoxy-2-[F-18] Fluoro-D-Glucose positron emission imaging (FDG-PET) for staging Hodgkin's disease (HD) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) compared to conventional staging (CS) and to evaluate the impact on patient management.

Methods: Forty-five consecutive patients with lymphoma underwent whole-body FDG-PET imaging for initial staging. Discordant lesions were verified with biopsy or clinical follow-up.