An Unusual Case of Plasmablastic Lymphoma Presenting as Paravertebral Mass Evaluated by ¹⁸ F-FDG PET/CT

Excerpt

A 60-year-old man underwent radiological investigations due to the onset of back pain. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed the presence of a paravertebral mass located ahead the body of the third thoracic vertebra. Based on these findings the patient underwent biopsy of the paravertebral mass, which showed the presence of a plasmablastic lymphoma. Therefore, the patient underwent fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT) for staging. Before ¹⁸F-FDG injection, the patient had fasted for at least 6 h; at the time of the radiopharmaceutical injection he presented glucose blood levels corresponding to 98 mg/dl. Images were acquired 1 h after intravenous injection of 280 MBq of ¹⁸F-FDG according to the body mass index. PET images were interpreted visually and semiquantitatively by using the maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax). …