Postoperative cardiothoracic infection: diagnostic value of indium-111 white blood cell imaging.

During a 6.5-year period, 50 indium 111-labeled white blood cell scans were obtained in 49 selected patients who had undergone sternotomy. Retrospectively, six sternal wounds and eight cardiovascular prostheses were found to be infected in 13 patients. For cardiothoracic surgical sites, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of indium-111-labeled white blood cell scintigraphy were 86%, 97%, and 95%, respectively. Whole-body imaging identified the presence of major extramediastinal sites of infection in 10 patients. In patients with complicated cardiothoracic conditions, indium-111-labeled white blood cell imaging provides valuable diagnostic information regarding a variety of postoperative infections.