Sarcoidosis mimicking metastatic breast cancer in a patient with early-stage breast cancer

Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disorder of unknown origin that affects the lungs and mediastinal lymph nodes in most patients. The coexistence of sarcoidosis and breast cancer has been reported. An unfortunate consequence of the presence of both entities in the same patient is the risk of misdiagnosis. We report the case of a 70-year-old female with T1N0 cancer of the right breast that was initially diagnosed as stage IV because of mediastinal positron-emission tomography - positive lymphadenopathy. Biopsy of a mediastinal lymph node allowed us to diagnose sarcoidosis and correctly stage her disease as stage I breast cancer

Imaging findings of spondylodiscitis

Spondylodiscitis is an infection of the intervertebral disc and adjacent vertebral bodies. Magnetic resonance imaging is the method of choice for the spondylodiscitis. The characteristic findings in the spondylodiscitis are hypointense on T1-weighted (W) image and hyperintense on T2W and fat-saturation T2W images, contrast enhancement on contrast-enhanced T1W with fat saturation images in the disc space and adjacent vertebral bodies, and phlegmon or abscess of the paraspinal soft tissues and epidural space. Phlegmon shows homogenous contrast enhancement, while abscess shows peripheral ring-enhancement on contrast-enhanced T1W with fat saturation images. Differentiation of tuberculous, brucellar and pyogenic spondylodiscitis is radiological difficult. Features that also favor tuberculosis infection include multilevel disease, large paravertebral abscess, meningeal involvement and subligamentous spread. Brucellar spondylodiscitis most commonly affects the lumbar spine. Bone destruction is less severe than in tuberculous spondylodiscitis. Osteophyte formation at the anterior vertebral endplate is typical

Diffusion-Weighted MRI in Cranial Bone Marrow Metastasis

Purpose: Diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DW-MRI) is generally applied to diagnose intra-axial brain pathologies such as parenchyma metastasis, abscesses, and infarcts in patients with systemic cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the DW-MRI findings in cranial bone marrow metastases to facilitate diagnosis. Material and Methods: Conventional MR imaging and DW-MRI findings of 57 patients with cranial bone marrow metastases were evaluated retrospectively. These images were evaluated by two neuroradiologists for lesion detection and lesion consciousness. Reader agreement was assessed by. statistics. Results: Fifty-seven patients exhibited 113 cranial bone marrow metastases. The sensitivities of DW-MRI and the apparent diffusion coefficient to detect cranial bone metastasis for all types of primary malignancy were 86% and 90%, respectively. The sensitivities of T1-weighted imaging (T1WI), fluid attenuation inversion recovery, contrast-enhanced fat-suppressed (CE-FS) T1WI, and T2WI sequences to detect cranial bone metastasis were 93%, 90%, 89%, and 84%, respectively. Regarding lesion conspicuousness, DW-MRI was equivalent to CE-FS T1WI and equivalent or superior to non-contrast conventional sequences in most of the cranial bone marrow metastases. Interobserver agreement was excellent. Conclusions: DW-MRI is generally indicated not only to assess the diagnosis of parenchyma involvement, but also to discover the cranial bone marrow metastasis in patients with systemic cancer

Pseudoarachnoiditis in Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension is an important cause of new daily persistent headaches in young and middle-aged individuals. The diagnosis is made based on low cerebrospinal fluid pressure with characteristic findings upon brain and spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We present the case of a 15-year-old boy with spontaneous intracranial hypotension. Although his brain MRI was normal, his lumbar spinal MRI showed clustering of the nerve roots characteristic of arachnoiditis. Radionuclide cisternography revealed an epidural leak, which was treated with an epidural blood patch. The patient reached a near-full recovery within 24 h, and the lumbar spinal MRI findings mimicking arachnoiditis disappeared