An uncommon presentation of a multifocal spinal osseous sarcoidosis: A case report on the diagnosis and exclusion with literature review

Abstract

Sarcoidosis is a granulomatous disease of indeterminate etiology. Women are more commonly affected than men at nearly twice the incidence with black women most commonly afflicted in the United States. Osseous spinal sarcoidosis (SS) is thought to be uncommon. Such lesions are often mistaken for metastatic disease, multiple myeloma, or disseminated fungal/granulomatous infection complicating the diagnosis, clinical course, and treatment. Patients presenting with clinical and imaging features of sarcoidosis may have normal serum laboratory values further complicating diagnosis. We present the case of a 61-year-old African American female with a diagnosis of osseous spinal sarcoidosis and normal calcium and ACE levels. Her initial presentation began with an incidentally discovered pulmonary nodule and was subsequently discovered to have multiple enlarging pulmonary nodules and widespread sclerotic lesions throughout her spine. This imaging presentation occurred before development of hilar adenopathy and cutaneous manifestations of sarcoidosis. Here, we describe her clinical course, exclusion of metastatic disease, and other confounders to arrive at the correct diagnosis.

Keywords

• Neurosarcoidosis
• Spinal sarcoidosis
• MRI
• Pulmonary sarcoidosis
• Neuroradiology