Rapidly progressing glioblastoma resembling brain abscess in leukemia.
A 63-year-old man with a history of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and a prosthetic aortic valve was hospitalized because of a mastoiditis, complicated by meningitis and epileptic seizures. Two weeks later he developed a lesion in the right temporal lobe. A brain abscess was suspected. However after treatment his clinical condition failed to improve. 99mTc-Tetrofosmin brain SPECT was performed and revealed substantially increased tracer uptake. Due to the patient's clinical deterioration, surgery was considered most appropriate. Histopathology established the diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme. This case suggests a note of caution in every case of a rapidly evolving space-occupying lesion independently of the patient's previous history.
Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece. alexiougrg@yahoo.gr
George A
GA
Alexiou
Spyridon
S
Tsiouris
Athanasios P
AP
Kyritsis
Konstantinos S
KS
Polyzoidis
Spyridon
S
Voulgaris
Andreas D
AD
Fotopoulos
D000782:Aneuploidy; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001706:Biopsy; D001922:Brain Abscess / Q000175:diagnosis; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D018450:Disease Progression; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008940:Mitotic Index; D013667:Technetium; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D013997:Time Factors; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D013667:Technetium