ABSTRACT: Primary pulmonary paragangliomas are rare neuroendocrine tumors and are often discovered incidentally as nonfunctioning masses. We report a case of 58-year-old woman recently diagnosed with multifocal right breast cancer and suspicious right axillary lymph nodes. 18 F-FDG PET/CT showed a well-defined marginated lesion in the lower lobe of the right lung with intense FDG uptake. Findings were suspicious for pulmonary metastases. CT-guided biopsy results were consistent with a paraganglioma. Paragangliomas can mimic metastases, especially if they are large or have a high degree of FDG uptake, and careful evaluation of imaging features and clinical findings can help differentiate these entities. Most of the time biopsy is necessary to confirm the diagnosis.
Breast Neoplasms , Lung Neoplasms , Paraganglioma , Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 , Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography , Breast Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging , Lung Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging , Paraganglioma/diagnostic imaging , Image-Guided Biopsy , Lung
