Hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy demonstrated on SPECT/CT

A 51-year-old man with a known history of hepatic cirrhosis and a right lung mass presented with hemoptysis and widespread bone pain. Sputum cytology demonstrated atypical cells. A CT scan of the chest demonstrated a 3-cm spiculating mass in the right lower lobe, in addition to nodules in both upper lobes and lymphadenopathy within the mediastinum and both hila. Skeletal scintigraphy was performed to assess for metastatic bone disease, and demonstrated increased tracer uptake along the cortex of the distal femurs bilaterally. There was also low-grade cortical uptake in the mid femur and tibia bilaterally on planar imaging. SPECT/CT was able to improve the specificity of the planar scintigraphic findings, by confirming tracer uptake was localized to the periosteum as expected for hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy, thereby excluding the presence of skeletal metastases.