scholarly journals Scar Sarcoidosis as Presenting Finding in Pembrolizumab Induced Systemic Sarcoidosis in Stage III Melanoma: A Case Report

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Birgit Reyn ◽  

Immune checkpoint blockade using inhibition of Programmed Cell Death-1 (PD-1) improves both progression-free and overall survival in patients with advanced melanoma, but is associated with a unique set of toxicities termed immune-related Adverse Events (irAEs). We present a case of a man with stage IIIc melanoma who was treated with pembrolizumab (anti PD-1). Two months after initiation of the therapy, the patient developed subcutaneous nodules on his upper lip and right knee, both in a pre-existing scar. Histological examination showed non-necrotising granuloma, most consistent with sarcoidosis. PET-CT showed hypermetabolic mediastinal and hilar adenopathies as well as lung lesions and some cutaneous and subcutaneous metabolic hot spots. Bronchoscopy with biopsy of a lymph node confirmed the diagnosis of sarcoidosis. Pembrolizumab was withheld, whereby a gradual decrease and near spontaneous resolution of all lesions was seen over a period of approximately 6 months. The patient is currently in follow up with no evidence of disease recurrence.Our case shows a unique presentation of sarcoidosis in old scar tissue as presenting symptom of pembrolizumab-related systemic sarcoidosis and demonstrates the importance of histological examination of new lesions occurring during checkpoint inhibitor therapy in order to avoid misdiagnosis of melanoma progression.

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 10046-10046
Author(s):  
Milton Jos De Barros E Silva ◽  
Marcos Rezende Teixeira ◽  
Natasha Carvalho Pandolfi ◽  
Vinicius Fernando Calsavara ◽  
Thiago Bueno Oliveira ◽  
...  

10046 Background: Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has changed the natural history advanced melanoma (AM). Based on phase III trial, which used RECIST criteria, the complete response (CR) rate with anti-PD1 therapy is around 20%. In daily practice, PET/CT is a useful tool to evaluate response to treatment in melanoma patients. Little is known about the number of patients who achieve metabolic CR by PET/CT but with anatomic residual disease and their prognosis. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients with AM treated with ICB who achieved metabolic CR by PET/CT but with residual disease on tomography and compared to patients with RECIST CR in a high-volume cancer center. Progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were obtained by Kaplan Meier method and log-rank test. Results: One hundred seventy pts with AM treated with anti-PD1 (79%) or anti-PD1 + anti- CTLA4 (21%) betweenSeptember 2013 and December 2019 were analyzed. At a median follow-up of 23.6 months, seventy-five (44%) pts achieved CR. RECIST criteria: 22 pts (29.3%) and metabolic CR: 53 pts (70.7%). All patients with metabolic CR had RECIST partial response. The median total time on treatment was 14.8m (95%CI:0.9-42.3). The median time to reach CR was 5.4m (95%CI: 3-39). The median time of treatment after CR was 6.8m (95%CI: 0-21.4). The rate of CR patients off treatment at the moment of this analysis was 69%. The median follow-up after discontinuing treatment was 5.2m. There was no difference in PFS (36 month-rate: 84.4% vs 74%, p:0.64) and OS (36 month-rate: 100% vs 86.3%, p:0.14) between pts with CR based on RECIST or PET-CT, respectively. Median time for PFS and OS have not been reached until the date cut-off. Nine pts have relapsed (12%). Seven of them had residual disease on tomography but with no metabolic active lesion(s) at the time of the end of treatment. Conclusions: Twice more patients achieve complete response considering only metabolic parameters on PET/CT compared to RECIST criteria and they seem to have comparable prognosis.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto G. Carbone ◽  
Daniele Penna ◽  
Robert P. Baughman ◽  
Elyse E. Lower

Positron emission tomography (PET) in combination with computed tomography (PET-CT) is commonly used to identify malignant lesion in the lung. Despite there being only a few reports in literature, PET-CT imaging may have many advantages in the study of sarcoidosis, being useful in the diagnosis as well as in monitoring the response to treatment. The object of this case report is to highlight the clinical utility of integrated PET-CT imaging for evaluation of patients with systemic sarcoidosis and for comparing baseline findings to follow-up readings.


2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (05) ◽  
pp. 371-378
Author(s):  
Alfred O. Ankrah ◽  
Ismaheel O. Lawal ◽  
Tebatso M.G. Boshomane ◽  
Hans C. Klein ◽  
Thomas Ebenhan ◽  
...  

Abstract 18F-FDG and 68Ga-citrate PET/CT have both been shown to be useful in the management of tuberculosis (TB). We compared the abnormal PET findings of 18F-FDG- and 68Ga-citrate-PET/CT in patients with TB. Methods Patients with TB on anti-TB therapy were included. Patients had a set of PET scans consisting of both 18F-FDG and 68Ga-citrate. Abnormal lesions were identified, and the two sets of scans were compared. The scan findings were correlated to the clinical data as provided by the attending physician. Results 46 PET/CT scans were performed in 18 patients, 11 (61 %) were female, and the mean age was 35.7 ± 13.5 years. Five patients also had both studies for follow-up reasons during the use of anti-TB therapy. Thirteen patients were co-infected with HIV. 18F-FDG detected more lesions than 68Ga-citrate (261 vs. 166, p < 0.0001). 68Ga-citrate showed a better definition of intracerebral lesions due to the absence of tracer uptake in the brain. The mean SUVmax was higher for 18F-FDG compared to 68Ga-citrate (5.73 vs. 3.01, p < 0.0001). We found a significant correlation between the SUVmax of lesions that were determined by both tracers (r = 0.4968, p < 0.0001). Conclusion Preliminary data shows 18F-FDG-PET detects more abnormal lesions in TB compared to 68Ga-citrate. However, 68Ga-citrate has better lesion definition in the brain and is therefore especially useful when intracranial TB is suspected.


2011 ◽  
Vol 50 (05) ◽  
pp. N57-N59
Author(s):  
S. Geiger ◽  
S. Horster ◽  
A. R. Haug ◽  
A. Hausmann ◽  
M. Schlemmer ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 01 (05) ◽  
pp. 219-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Beyer ◽  
B. Buerke ◽  
J. Gerss ◽  
K. Scheffe ◽  
M. Puesken ◽  
...  

SummaryPurpose: To distinguish between benign and malignant mediastinal lymph nodes in patients with NSCLC by comparing 2D and semiautomated 3D measurements in FDG-PET-CT.Patients, material, methods: FDG-PET-CT was performed in 46 patients prior to therapy. 299 mediastinal lymph-nodes were evaluated independently by two radiologists, both manually and by semi-automatic segmentation software. Longest-axial-diameter (LAD), shortest-axial-diameter (SAD), maximal-3D-diameter, elongation and volume were obtained. FDG-PET-CT and clinical/FDG-PET-CT follow up examinations and/or histology served as the reference standard. Statistical analysis encompassed intra-class-correlation-coefficients and receiver-operator-characteristics-curves (ROC). Results: The standard of reference revealed involvement in 87 (29%) of 299 lymph nodes. Manually and semi-automatically measured 2D parameters (LAD and SAD) showed a good correlation with mean


2008 ◽  
Vol 47 (01) ◽  
pp. 37-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Pfluger ◽  
V. Schneider ◽  
M. Hacker ◽  
N. Bröckel ◽  
D. Morhard ◽  
...  

SummaryAim: Assessment of the clinical benefit of i.v. contrast enhanced diagnostic CT (CE-CT) compared to low dose CT with 20 mAs (LD-CT) without contrast medium in combined [18F]-FDG PET/CT examinations in restaging of patients with lymphoma. Patients, methods: 45 patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 35) and Hodgkin's disease (n = 10) were included into this study. PET, LD-CT and CECT were analyzed separately as well as side-by-side. Lymphoma involvement was evaluated separately for seven regions. Indeterminate diagnoses were accepted whenever there was a discrepancy between PET and CT findings. Results for combined reading were calculated by rating indeterminate diagnoses according the suggestions of either CT or PET. Each patient had a clinical follow-up evaluation for >6 months. Results: Region-based evaluation suggested a sensitivity/specificity of 66/93% for LD-CT, 87%/91% for CE-CT, 95%/96% for PET, 94%/99% for PET/LD-CT and 96%/99% for PET/CE-CT. The data for PET/CT were obtained by rating indeterminate results according to the suggestions of PET, which turned out to be superior to CT. Lymphoma staging was changed in two patients using PET/ CE-CT as compared to PET/LD-CT. Conclusion: Overall, there was no significant difference between PET/LD-CT and PET/CE-CT. However, PET/CE-CT yielded a more precise lesion delineation than PET/LD-CT. This was due to the improved image quality of CE-CT and might lead to a more accurate investigation of lymphoma.


Author(s):  
Emine Acar ◽  
Ayşegül Aksu ◽  
Gökmen Akkaya ◽  
Gamze Çapa Kaya

Objective: This study evaluated how much of the myocardium was hibernating in patients with left ventricle dysfunction and/or comorbidities who planned to undergo either surgical or interventional revascularization. Furthermore, this study also identified which irrigation areas of the coronary arteries presented more scar and hibernating tissue. Methods: At rest, Tc-99m MIBI SPECT and cardiac F-18 FDG PET/CT images collected between March 2009 and September 2016 from 65 patients (55 men, 10 women, mean age 64±12) were retrospectively analyzed in order to evaluate myocardial viability. The areas with perfusion defects that were considered metabolic were accepted as hibernating myocardium, whereas areas with perfusion defects that were considered non-metabolic were accepted as scar tissue. Results: Perfusion defects were observed in 26% of myocardium, on average 48% were associated with hibernation whereas other 52% were scar tissue. In the remaining Tc-99m MIBI images, perfusion defects were observed in the following areas in the left anterior descending artery (LAD; 31%), in the right coronary artery (RCA; 23%) and in the Left Circumflex Artery (LCx; 19%) irrigation areas. Hibernation areas were localized within the LAD (46%), LCx (54%), and RCA (64%) irrigation areas. Scar tissue was also localized within the LAD (54%), LCx (46%), and RCA (36%) irrigation areas. Conclusion: Perfusion defects are thought to be the result of half hibernating tissue and half scar tissue. The majority of perfusion defects was observed in the LAD irrigation area, whereas hibernation was most often observed in the RCA irrigation area. The scar tissue development was more common in the LAD irrigation zone.


Author(s):  
Isidora Grozdic Milojevic ◽  
Dragana Sobic-Saranovic ◽  
Nebojsa Petrovic ◽  
Slobodanka Beatovic ◽  
Marijana Tadic ◽  
...  

Objective: To determine the prevalence of abdominal involvement, distribution pattern and evaluate role of hybrid molecular imaging in patients with abdominal sarcoidosis. Methods: Between January 2010 and December 2011, 98 patients with chronic sarcoidosis and presence of prolonged symptoms or other findings suggestive of active disease were referred to FDG PET/CT examination. Active disease was found in 82 patients, and they all were screened for the presence of abdominal sarcoidosis on FDG PET/CT. All patients also underwent MDCT and assessment of serum ACE level. Follow up FDG PET/CT examination was done 12.3±5.4 months after the baseline. Results: Abdominal sarcoidosis was present in 31/82 patients with active sarcoidosis. FDG uptake was present in: retroperitoneal lymph nodes (77%), liver (26%), spleen (23%), adrenal gland (3%). Majority of patients had more than two locations of disease. Usually thoracic disease was spread into the extrathoracic localizations, while isolated abdominal sarcoidosis was present in 10% of patients. After first FDG PET/CT examination therapy was changed in all patients. Eleven patients came to the follow up examination where SUVmax significantly decreased in the majority of them. Three patients had total remission, three had absence of abdominal disease but discrete findings in thorax and others had less spread disease. ACE levels did not correlate with SUVmax level. Conclusion: FDG PET/CT can be a useful tool for detection of abdominal sarcoidosis and in the evaluation of therapy response in these patients. Awareness of the presence of intra-abdominal sarcoidosis is important in order to prevent long-standing unrecognized disease.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 388.2-389
Author(s):  
A. Rubbert-Roth ◽  
P. K. Bode ◽  
T. Langenegger ◽  
C. Pfofe ◽  
T. Neumann ◽  
...  

Background:Giant cell arteritis (GCA) may affect the aorta and the large aortic branches and lead to dissections and aortic aneurysms. Tocilizumab (TCZ) treatment has the capacity to control aortic inflammation as has been demonstrated by CRP normalization and imaging data. However, limited data are available on the histopathological findings obtained from patients who underwent surgery because of aortic complications during TCZ treatment.Objectives:We report on 5 patients with aortitis who were treated with TCZ and developed aortic complications.Methods:We describe a retrospective case series of patients with GCA treated with TCZ, who presented in our clinic between 2011 and 2019. Three patients underwent surgery. Histopathologic examination was performed in specimen from all of them.Results:Five female patients were diagnosed with GCA (4/5) or Takaysu arteritis (1/5) involving the aorta, all them diagnosed by MR angiography and/or FDG PET CT scan. Three patients (one with aortic aneurysm, one with dissection) underwent surgery after having been treated with TCZ for seven weeks, nine months and four years, respectively. Imaging before surgery showed remission on MRI and/or PET-CT in all cases. At the time of surgery, all patients showed normalized CRP and ESR values. Histopathological evaluation of the aortic wall revealed infiltrates, consisting predominantly of CD3+CD4+ T cells. Enlargement of pre-existing aneuryms was observed in the other two patients 10 weeks and 4 months after discontinuation of TCZ, respectively. Both patients were not eligible for surgical intervention and died during follow-up.Conclusion:Our case series suggests that during treatment with TCZ, regular imaging is necessary in this patient population to detect development of structural changes such as aneurysms or dissections. Despite treatment, residual inflammation might persist which could contribute to eventual aortic complications.Disclosure of Interests:Andrea Rubbert-Roth Consultant of: Abbvie, BMS, Chugai, Pfizer, Roche, Janssen, Lilly, Sanofi, Amgen, Novartis, Peter Karl Bode: None declared, Thomas Langenegger: None declared, Claudia Pfofe: None declared, Thomas Neumann: None declared, Olaf Chan-Hi Kim: None declared, Johannes von Kempis Consultant of: Roche


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