Imaging manifestations of malignant neoplasia mimicking pyogenic osteodiscitis

Gabe, Michael John; Allmendinger, Andrew M.; Krauthamer, Alan; Spektor, Vadim; Destian, Sylvie; Zablow, Bruce

doi:10.1016/j.clinimag.2009.08.028

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Volume 34, Issue 4 , Pages 309-315, July 2010

Imaging manifestations of malignant neoplasia mimicking pyogenic osteodiscitis

Michael John Gabe
- Department of Radiology, St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center, New York, NY 10011, USA
Andrew M. Allmendinger
- Department of Radiology, St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center, New York, NY 10011, USA
- Corresponding author. St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center, 170 W 12th St., New York, NY 10011, USA. Tel.: +1 212 604 2416; fax: +1 212 604 2929.
Alan Krauthamer
- Department of Radiology, St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center, New York, NY 10011, USA
Vadim Spektor
- Department of Radiology, St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center, New York, NY 10011, USA
Sylvie Destian
- Department of Radiology, St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center, New York, NY 10011, USA
Bruce Zablow
- Department of Neurosurgery, St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center, New York, NY 10011, USA

Received 8 July 2009; accepted 10 August 2009. published online 05 October 2009.

Abstract

Malignant neoplasia involving contiguous vertebrae and the corresponding intervertebral discs is a rare occurrence that has similar imaging manifestations as pyogenic osteodiscitis. The authors describe the imaging manifestations of two cases of malignant neoplasia mimicking pyogenic osteodiscitis. We present a case of an 83-year-old male with metastatic non-small cell lung carcinoma and an 82-year-old female with a plasmacytoma, both within the thoracic spine. These cases illustrate how the imaging features of pyogenic osteodiscitis may parallel those of malignant neoplasia.

Keywords: Osteodiscitis, Metastasis, Multidetector computed tomography, Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, Plasmacytoma