A Surgical Red Herring: Positron Emission Tomography-avid Mediastinal Silicone Granulomatous Lymphadenopathy in the Setting of a Lung Nodule

Abstract

Silicone granuloma is an unusual cause of lymphadenopathy. The formation of silicone granulomas is associated with breast implant rupture and leakage into the surrounding soft tissue, with silicone uptake into regional lymph nodes. This results in inflammation and lymphadenopathy that may present clinically or incidentally. We describe the workup and management of concomitant hypermetabolic mediastinal lymph node silicone granulomas and adenocarcinoma of the right lung in a patient with a history of breast cancer, mastectomy, and silicone implant reconstruction.