Case report 659: Metastatic osteoblastic carcinoid tumor (primary in pancreas or gallbladder)

The only plain radiographic skeletal features in this 71-year-old man were those of a solitary sclerotic lumbar vertebral body which grossly underestimated the extent of metastatic carcinoid involvement of the lumbar spine and elsewhere described in the text. The primary focus in this case was either the pancreas or gallbladder resulting in disseminated metastases to the skeleton and many visceral areas. It was emphasized that these skeletal metastases are principally blastic and that those carcinoids arising in the bronchi and foregut-related structures (e.g., stomach) most often metastasize to the skeleton.