Open AccessAsymmetrically increased rib cage uptake on bone scintigraphy: Incidental detection of pleural mesothelioma on single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography
Author(s) -
Varun Singh Dhull,
Punit Sharma,
Prashant Durgapal,
Sellam Karunanithi,
Madhavi Tripathi,
Rakesh Kumar
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
indian journal of nuclear medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.261
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 0972-3919
pISSN - 0974-0244
DOI - 10.4103/0972-3919.125775
Subject(s) - medicine , rib cage , radiology , bone scintigraphy , thorax (insect anatomy) , single photon emission computed tomography , nuclear medicine , biopsy , tomography , computed tomography , mesothelioma , emission computed tomography , scintigraphy , positron emission tomography , pathology , anatomy
Follow-up bone scintigraphy (BS) in a patient of carcinoma left breast, who was treated with surgery followed by radiotherapy 12 years back, revealed asymmetrically increased radiotracer uptake in left-sided ribs. Since, this pattern was atypical for metastatic rib involvement, single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) of thorax was done in the same setting which revealed circumferential nodular left-sided pleural thickening. Biopsy confirmed it to be pleural mesothelioma. Left-sided ribs showed no abnormality on CT, thus suggesting the rib uptake as reactive in nature. This pattern of asymmetric rib uptake on BS should be kept in mind and warrants further investigation for determining underlying pathology.