Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery (Jan 2013)

2-[<sup>18</sup> F]fluoro-2-deoxy-<smcaps>d</smcaps>-glucose (FDG) positron-emission tomography (PET) findings of chronic expanding intrapericardial hematoma: a potential interpretive pitfall that mimics a malignant tumor

  • Tokue Hiroyuki,
  • Tokue Azusa,
  • Okauchi Kenzo,
  • Tsushima Yoshito

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1749-8090-8-13
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
p. 13

Abstract

Read online

Abstract A 77-year-old man who had undergone mitral valve replacement 5 years previously presented with an intrapericardial mass. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging showed that the mass lesion contained hematoma components. Positron-emission tomography (PET) with 2-[18 F] fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG) revealed uptake in the peripheral rim of the mass. These findings suggested the presence of hematoma associated with a malignant lesion. Surgical resection was performed, and the histological diagnosis was chronic expanding intrapericardial hematoma without neoplastic changes. Chronic expanding intrapericardial hematoma is a rare disease but should be considered when an expanding mass is found in a patient after cardiac surgery. The FDG-PET findings of chronic expanding hematomas, including FDG uptake in the peripheral rim of the mass as a result of inflammation, should be recognized as a potential interpretive pitfall that mimics a malignant tumor.

Keywords