Whole body diffusion weighted imaging with background suppression in pachydermoperiostosis: a case report

Hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (HOA) is a disease characterized by abnormal skin findings and bone deformities related to subperiosteal bone formation. The disease can be associated with major systemic manifestations (secondary form) or present with absent or less prominent systemic signs and symptoms (primary form). The primary form is called pachydermoperiostosis (PDP). Whole body diffusion weighted imaging with background suppression (WB-DWIBS) is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that has been used to highlight whole body involvement in various entities by suppressing background body signals, and is commonly used in oncologic work-ups. In this paper, we present the case of a 23-year-old male presenting with normocytic anemia and coarse facial features, as well as biological anomalies, and we report the use of WB-DWIBS in establishing the patient's diagnosis of PDP.