Lebtahi R, Cadiot G, Marmuse J P, Vissuzaine C, Petegnief Y, Courillon-Mallet A, Cattan D, Mignon M, Le Guludec D
Nuclear Medicine, Department, Bichat Hospital, Paris, France.
J Nucl Med. 1997 Dec;38(12):1979-81.
A patient with previous left caudal pancreatectomy and splenectomy presented with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. Abdominal CT and endoscopic ultrasonography revealed a mass in the splenic area. Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy showed a nodular increase of the uptake corresponding to the lesion detected with conventional imaging. A second laparotomy was performed and the mass was resected. Histological analysis showed that the nodular lesion was an accessory spleen. Since physiologic uptake of 111In-pentetreotide is seen in the spleen, an accessory spleen mimicking a tumor, specially after previous splenectomy, may result in false-positive somatostatin receptor scintigraphy.
