Sarcoidosis mimicking lymphoma on FDG-PET imaging

Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory, systemic disease characterized by noncaseating granulomas. We describe a case of a 52-year-old female who presented with fevers, chills, night sweats, and weight loss of four months' duration. Lymphoma was suspected, and results of advanced imaging procedures were also consistent with lymphoma. However, mediastinal lymph-node biopsy, bone-marrow aspiration, and biopsy revealed noncaseating granulomas. She was diagnosed with sarcoidosis and had a positive therapeutic response to drug therapy. This case study illustrates that sarcoidosis can be a pitfall in 18-F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, which may lead to false-positive diagnosis of malignancy. PET-positive lesions do not always indicate malignancy, and histological confirmation of the lesions with biopsy should always be performed.