title: Focal splenic FDG uptake in a patient with Kala-Azar (visceral leishmaniasis).
abstract: We present a woman with a history of Gaucher disease and secondary portal hypertension. She went to hospital for treatment of resistant fever without apparent cause. A conventional study of fever of unknown origin did not show any pathology. For this reason, she was referred to our department for a PET/CT, which did not demonstrate a cause for the fever. Two months after, she was admitted again in hospital for fever recurrence. A new PET/CT showed FDG avid hypodense splenic lesions, suspicious for infection. Splenectomy was performed and histopathologic analysis demonstrated intracellular organisms compatible with Leishmania.
authors.affiliation: From the *Departments of Nuclear Medicine, †Radiology, and ‡Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitari Sant Joan de Reus, Tarragona, Spain.
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fuertes
authors.forename: Josep-Roland
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Garcia-Bennett
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iftimie
authors.forename: Mònica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Danús
authors.forename: José Angel
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Abreu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001692:Biological Transport; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D013154:Spleen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18