The "pirate sign" in fibrous dysplasia.
Fibrous dysplasia commonly involves the skull in both its monostotic and polyostotic variants. We present two cases of fibrous dysplasia involving the sphenoid wing, which were strikingly similar in their bone scan appearance. Both patients demonstrated intense increased uptake of Tc-99m MDP in a pattern reminding us of a "pirate wearing an eyepatch." We propose that this characteristic appearance of fibrous dysplasia of the sphenoid wing be called the "pirate sign." A review of the literature revealed several other pathologic conditions that have been reported to involve the sphenoid bone and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of abnormal bone tracer uptake in this region.
Singnurkar
Amit
A
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Division of Radiology, Jewish General Hospital and McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. amit.singnurkar@mail.mcgill.ca
Rush
Chris
C
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005359:Fibrous Dysplasia, Polyostotic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D013100:Sphenoid Bone / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism; D013669:Technetium Tc 99m Medronate / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D014018:Tissue Distribution
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D013669:Technetium Tc 99m Medronate