Uptake of FDG in the area of a recently implanted bioprosthetic mitral valve

A 74-year-old woman with history of melanoma, left breast cancer and status post left mastectomy, underwent FDG PET scanning as a part of a pulmonary nodule assessment. Two months before the scan the patient had undergone mitral valve replacement using a Hancock-2 porcine prosthesis due to severe mitral regurgitation. The PET scan demonstrated a circular rim of activity in the region of the mitral valve, but was otherwise negative. Additional workup to exclude a possible infectious process of the valve prosthesis was negative. The finding is most likely secondary to a nonspecific postsurgical inflammatory response in the area of the recently implanted artificial valve.