Osteopoiquilosis: a propósito de un caso

Abstract

Clinical case

A 42-year-old woman, a smoker since her twenties, without any personal, family or traumatic history of interest. Currently, she consults with a cold like symptoms with fever that has lasted for several days. She had right chest and abdominal pain without dyspnea, with pleuritic characteristics. refractory to ibuprofen.

Results

A chest x-ray was performed showing several pulmonary micronodules, which, added to her smoking history and refractory thoraco-abdominal pain, prompted a thoraco-abdomino-pelvic computerized tomography (CT). On CT, the pulmonary micronodular images do not appear to have a malignant behavior, but since they are associated with multiple enostotic infiltrative osteosclerotic lesions in the axial skeleton (incidentally seen on thoraco-abdomino-pelvic CT with bone window), their better characterization with a metabolic study is recommended, given the reasonable suspicion of bone metastases secondary to lung cancer. In the metabolic/functional extension study, a global hypouptake was obtained, reasonably ruling out the possibility of bone metastases, and directing diagnostic suspicions towards other benign possibilities such osteopoikilosis.

Conclusions

Osteopoikilosis is a casual and rare finding that should be included in the differential diagnosis of multiple osteosclerotic images, and not be confused with malignant entities.