Generalized lymphatic anomaly in adult patients: An eminently radiological diagnosis

Generalized lymphatic anomaly (GLA) is an uncommon congenital disease secondary to the proliferation of lymphatic vessels in any organ except the central nervous system. GLA has a wide spectrum of clinical and radiological presentations, among which osteolytic lesions are the most widespread, being the ribs the most commonly affected bone. GLA is diagnosed mainly in children and young adults; nevertheless, on rare occasions it can remain asymptomatic and be detected incidentally in older patients. We present an unusual case of GLA in an asymptomatic 54-year-old man who had atypically distributed, purely cystic bone lesions on CT; measuring the Hounsfield (HU) of these lesions enabled us to suspect GLA. This suspicion was confirmed with MRI, PET/CT, CT-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy, and fluoroscopy-guided percutaneous vertebral biopsy. After surgical resection of one of the lesions, histologic study provided the definitive diagnosis.