Editorial: Functional Imaging of Inflammation and Infection

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Ismaheel O Lawal, Emory University; Olivier Gheysens, Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain); Mike M Sathekge, University of Pretoria; Andor WJM Glaudemans, University of Groningen
• Language: English
• Date: 2022-05-12
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2022 Lawal, Gheysens, Sathekge and Glaudemans
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.925635
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Frontiers of Medicine
• Volume: 9
• Keywords: Inflammation; Infection
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery; Health Sciences, Radiology

Abstract

Inflammation is a host immune response to harmful stimuli, infectious or non-infectious, and is, therefore, a vital defense mechanism. Inflammation is thought to be the basis for many diseases, including oncology, and the effect transmissible infection could have on daily life has become clear to everyone in the past years. The importance arises from their associated morbidity and mortality as well as their socio-economic impact on health care. While the scourge of old infectious diseases such as tuberculosis continues to plague the human population, new ones are emerging, as exemplified by the still raging coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. To address the clinical and economic burden of inflammation and infection, prompt and accurate diagnosis of infection vs. sterile inflammation, timely treatment response determination, and the ability to prognosticate disease outcomes are essential. Diagnosis and treatment response assessment of infection and inflammation usually relies on clinical findings, measurement of circulating biomarkers, and histological or microbiological results. However, clinical manifestations are often non-specific, biopsy is invasive and fraught with sampling error, and serum biomarkers may also be non-specific and may not reflect the actual disease burden. Imaging, therefore, plays a vital role in the diagnosis and management of inflammation and infection. Morphologic imaging with computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are commonly used imaging modalities in clinical practice. The distortion in tissue architecture induced by diseases and detectable by morphologic imaging techniques develops and resolves slowly, making them less ideal for prompt diagnosis and early response assessment.