Case Report: Adrenal gland splenosis mimicking a neuroendocrine tumor on 68Ga-DOTATATE and 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging

Splenosis occurring in adrenal glands is relatively rare and is easily misdiagnosed as neoplastic lesions. Herein, we present a case of a 39-year-old woman who underwent a pancreatic tail resection and splenectomy 8 years ago due to caudal pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor and splenic invasion. She un...

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Main Authors: Xianwen Hu, Wei Zhao, Pan Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-05-01
Series:Frontiers in Medicine
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2025.1578613/full
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author Xianwen Hu
Wei Zhao
Pan Wang
author_facet Xianwen Hu
Wei Zhao
Pan Wang
author_sort Xianwen Hu
collection DOAJ
description Splenosis occurring in adrenal glands is relatively rare and is easily misdiagnosed as neoplastic lesions. Herein, we present a case of a 39-year-old woman who underwent a pancreatic tail resection and splenectomy 8 years ago due to caudal pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor and splenic invasion. She underwent abdominal ultrasound examination in an external hospital a month ago due to abdominal discomfort and found a lump in the left adrenal gland. She was admitted to our hospital for further diagnosis and treatment. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) examination revealed a nodule of equal soft tissue density on her left adrenal gland, which presented obvious uniform enhancement on contra-enhanced CT. Subsequently, she underwent fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) and gallium-68 labeld 1, 4, 7, 10-tetraazacyclododecane-1, 4, 7, 10-tetraaceticacid -D-Phel-Tyr3-Thr8-OC (68Ga-DOTATATE) positron emission tomography (PET)/CT imagings, and showed slightly increased 18F-FDG uptake and obviously increased 68Ga-DOTATATE uptake in the lesion, suggesting the possibility of neuroendocrine tumor metastasis. However, postoperative pathology confirmed that the lesion was splenosis. Our case suggests that adrenal gland splenosis should be considered as a differential diagnosis of adrenal tumors, understanding the clinical and imaging features of splenosis can reduce misdiagnosis and avoid unnecessary surgical intervention.
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spelling doaj-art-ba011f6d7f83465093e9e99faf3e3a272025-08-20T02:56:12ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Medicine2296-858X2025-05-011210.3389/fmed.2025.15786131578613Case Report: Adrenal gland splenosis mimicking a neuroendocrine tumor on 68Ga-DOTATATE and 18F-FDG PET/CT imagingXianwen Hu0Wei Zhao1Pan Wang2Department of Nuclear Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, ChinaDepartment of Pathology, Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, ChinaDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, ChinaSplenosis occurring in adrenal glands is relatively rare and is easily misdiagnosed as neoplastic lesions. Herein, we present a case of a 39-year-old woman who underwent a pancreatic tail resection and splenectomy 8 years ago due to caudal pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor and splenic invasion. She underwent abdominal ultrasound examination in an external hospital a month ago due to abdominal discomfort and found a lump in the left adrenal gland. She was admitted to our hospital for further diagnosis and treatment. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) examination revealed a nodule of equal soft tissue density on her left adrenal gland, which presented obvious uniform enhancement on contra-enhanced CT. Subsequently, she underwent fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) and gallium-68 labeld 1, 4, 7, 10-tetraazacyclododecane-1, 4, 7, 10-tetraaceticacid -D-Phel-Tyr3-Thr8-OC (68Ga-DOTATATE) positron emission tomography (PET)/CT imagings, and showed slightly increased 18F-FDG uptake and obviously increased 68Ga-DOTATATE uptake in the lesion, suggesting the possibility of neuroendocrine tumor metastasis. However, postoperative pathology confirmed that the lesion was splenosis. Our case suggests that adrenal gland splenosis should be considered as a differential diagnosis of adrenal tumors, understanding the clinical and imaging features of splenosis can reduce misdiagnosis and avoid unnecessary surgical intervention.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2025.1578613/fullsplenosisadrenal glandneuroendocrine tumorPET/CTCT
spellingShingle Xianwen Hu
Wei Zhao
Pan Wang
Case Report: Adrenal gland splenosis mimicking a neuroendocrine tumor on 68Ga-DOTATATE and 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging
Frontiers in Medicine
splenosis
adrenal gland
neuroendocrine tumor
PET/CT
CT
title Case Report: Adrenal gland splenosis mimicking a neuroendocrine tumor on 68Ga-DOTATATE and 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging
title_full Case Report: Adrenal gland splenosis mimicking a neuroendocrine tumor on 68Ga-DOTATATE and 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging
title_fullStr Case Report: Adrenal gland splenosis mimicking a neuroendocrine tumor on 68Ga-DOTATATE and 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging
title_full_unstemmed Case Report: Adrenal gland splenosis mimicking a neuroendocrine tumor on 68Ga-DOTATATE and 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging
title_short Case Report: Adrenal gland splenosis mimicking a neuroendocrine tumor on 68Ga-DOTATATE and 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging
title_sort case report adrenal gland splenosis mimicking a neuroendocrine tumor on 68ga dotatate and 18f fdg pet ct imaging
topic splenosis
adrenal gland
neuroendocrine tumor
PET/CT
CT
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2025.1578613/full
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AT panwang casereportadrenalglandsplenosismimickinganeuroendocrinetumoron68gadotatateand18ffdgpetctimaging