Spinal uptake mimicking metastasis in SPECT/CT bone scan in a patient with superior vena cava obstruction
Olivier Rager1, René Nkoulou, Valentina Garibotto
1From the *Nuclear Medicine Department and †Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Geneva University Medical Center, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Abstract:
A 46-year-old female patient with a mediastinal neuroendocrine carcinoma complicated by superior vena cava syndrome was referred for a bone metastatic workup. Bone scan with SPECT/CT showed several vertebral fixations without alterations on the unenhanced CT, but a CT scan with injection of contrast media showed vertebral densities matched to the lesions described on the SPECT/CT. This pattern confirmed presence of collateral paths through vertebral veins due to superior vena cava syndrome. Lack of metastases was confirmed by MRI.
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