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Gummatous Syphilis Mimicking Malignant Bone Tumor on FDG PET/CT
Li-Juan Wang1, Hu-Bing Wu, Wen-Lan Zhou
1From the PET Center, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, China.
Abstract:
A 47-year-old woman suffered worsening pain in the waist and numbness in the right thigh for 1 month. MRI was performed to determine the cause, which detected an osteolytic lesion in the T12 vertebral body, suggestive of possible bone metastasis. FDG PET/CT scan was undertaken to detect the primary tumor, which only showed the same isolated lesion in the T12 without any other abnormal hypermetabolic lesion. The pathology following vertebrectomy revealed granulomatous infection. The diagnosis of osseous syphilis was eventually made following a subsequent positive Treponema pallidum serological test.
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