PET-POSITIVE FINDINGS DO NOT INDICATE LYMPHOMA IN ALL CASES
JALIL UR REHMAN *
Section of Adult Hematology and BMT, Department of Oncology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Jeddah, KSA
MOUHAMMED KELTA
Section of Adult Hematology and BMT, Department of Oncology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Jeddah, KSA
MOHAMED BAYOUMI
Department of Oncology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, P.O.Box 40047, Jeddah 21499, KSA
JAUDAH AL MAGHRABI
Department of Pathology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Jeddah, KSA.
ZAHID AMIN KHAN
Department of Radiology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Jeddah, KSA
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Burkitt’s Lymphoma is historically recognized as a difficult to treat disease especially in the elderly cohort of patients and this necessitates close follow-up with vigilance for relapse. We report a case of an elderly lady who was treated aggressively for Burkitt’s Lymphoma and followed up clinic with with regular imaging every 6 months. During her follow up note was made of increased uptake in the cervical area with strong suspicion of disease relapse but which was discordant with her clinical signs and symptoms and therefore a tissue biopsy was performed which revealed granulomatous infection and no evidence of Lymphoma. Subsequently she was found to have toxoplasmosis with high levels toxoplasma IgG titer with reactive IgM levels. She had no history of direct exposure to cats and was treated conservatively. This case report provides us with a reminder that we should think of a wider differential for positive PETCT findings when the clinical picture doesn’t fit.
Keywords: Positron emission tomography, Burkitt’s lymphoma, toxoplasmosis, granulomas