A case of primary pericardial mesothelioma detected by 18F-FDG PET/CT

Our plain-English summary of A case of primary pericardial mesothelioma detected by 18F-FDG PET/CT, by F. Aga, Y. Yamamoto, T. Norikane, et al (Clinical Nuclear Medicine, 2012).

The study

• Authors: F. Aga, Y. Yamamoto, T. Norikane, Y. Nishiyama
• Journal: Clinical Nuclear Medicine
• Published: 2012;37(5):522-3
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 18 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Primary pericardial mesothelioma is an extremely rare malignancy. We report a case of a 58-year-old woman who presented with fever and fatigue. She had no apparent history of occupational or incidental exposure to asbestos. A postcontrast-enhanced chest CT revealed a 77 × 56-mm mass lesion in the pericardium. The FDG PET/CT was carried out, which demonstrated an intense FDG uptake to a main pericardial tumor and disseminated lesions in the pericardium. Histologic examination confirmed the primary malignant pericardial mesothelioma.

In plain English

This was a case report describing one patient: a 58-year-old woman who presented with fever and fatigue. The authors reported that she had no apparent history of occupational or incidental exposure to asbestos. Her chest X-ray showed an enlarged heart outline. A heart ultrasound showed fluid around the heart (a pericardial effusion) without enlargement of the ventricle. A contrast-enhanced CT scan showed a mass measuring 77 by 56 mm in the pericardium, the sac around the heart. On an FDG PET scan, a scan that highlights tissue taking up a radioactive sugar tracer, the mass showed intense uptake, with a maximum standardized uptake value of 12.9. Combined PET/CT images showed that this uptake matched a main tumor and lesions spread within the pericardium. After surgery that removed most of the pericardium (a subtotal pericardiectomy), tissue examination showed a primary malignant pericardial mesothelioma of the epithelial type. A single case like this cannot show how often the disease occurs. The report did not say how the patient fared after surgery.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Case report of a single patient, published as a short image-based article ('Interesting Image')
• Who was studied: One 58-year-old woman who presented with fever and fatigue. The authors are from the Department of Radiology, Kagawa University, Japan. The date of the case is not given.
• Exposure: No asbestos exposure was identified: the patient had no apparent history of occupational or incidental exposure to asbestos. No fiber type or product is mentioned.
• Main results:
  • Chest radiograph showed an enlarged cardiac silhouette.
  • Transthoracic echocardiography showed a pericardial effusion without dilatation of the ventricle.
  • Contrast-enhanced chest CT showed a mass measuring 77 by 56 mm in the pericardium.
  • FDG PET showed intense uptake in the pericardial mass, with a maximum standardized uptake value of 12.9.
  • Fused PET/CT images showed that the uptake corresponded to a main pericardial tumor and disseminated lesions in the pericardium.
  • A subtotal pericardiectomy was performed.
  • Histologic analysis showed a primary malignant pericardial mesothelioma of the epithelial type.
• The authors' conclusion: The article has no separate conclusion. The authors presented this as a case in which FDG PET/CT showed intense uptake in the main pericardial tumor and in lesions spread within the pericardium.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pericardial Mesothelioma, Pericardium, Pericardial.

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• 18F-FDG PET/CT in a recurrent diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma — Q. Cao, M. Lu, et al. (2012)
• Sarcomatoid carcinoma (carcinosarcoma) of the lung mimics malignant pleural mesothelioma on 18F-FDG PET/CT: a report of 2 cases — A. Ciarallo, W. Makis, et al. (2012)
• Prognostic value of 18F-FDG standard uptake value by integrated PET/CT in the staging of malignant pleural mesothelioma — G. Genestreti, A. Moretti, et al. (2012)

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