After significant trauma to the spleen, small viable splenic fragments may exist in the peritoneal cavity or, less commonly, in the thorax. Thus, the appearance of splenules within the thorax on CT images can easily be mistaken for malignancy and lead to unnecessary intervention. Here, we present a case of multiple pulmonary masses that initially were presumed to be malignancy, leading to CT-guided biopsy, but were eventually confirmed to be thoracic splenules through 99mTc-labeled sulfur colloid scintigraphy.
Keywords: 99mTc sulfur colloid; correlative imaging; splenic trauma; splenosis.
© 2016 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Inc.