{"title":"EBUS-guided Cryobiopsy-Proven Anthracotic Mediastinal Lymph Node Mimicking Malignancy on FDG PET-CT: A Case Report.","authors":"Trilok Chand, Hussa M A Alshehhi","doi":"10.4103/sjmms.sjmms_198_26","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Anthracotic mediastinal lymph nodes are an uncommon cause of intense fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake on positron-emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT), often mimicking malignancy and leading to diagnostic uncertainty. Here, we report the case of a 67-year-old Asian male with FDG-avid mediastinal lymphadenopathy that was highly suspicious for metastatic disease. Subsequent endobronchial ultrasound-guided lymph node sampling demonstrated anthracosis without evidence of malignancy or infection. Recognition of this rare benign entity prevented cancer upstaging and unnecessary treatment. This case highlights the importance of histopathological confirmation of PET-positive mediastinal lymph nodes, particularly in patients with suspected or known malignancy, to ensure accurate diagnosis and appropriate clinical management.</p>","PeriodicalId":21442,"journal":{"name":"Saudi Journal of Medicine & Medical Sciences","volume":"14 3","pages":"286-290"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2026-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13489575/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Saudi Journal of Medicine & Medical Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4103/sjmms.sjmms_198_26","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/7/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Anthracotic mediastinal lymph nodes are an uncommon cause of intense fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake on positron-emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT), often mimicking malignancy and leading to diagnostic uncertainty. Here, we report the case of a 67-year-old Asian male with FDG-avid mediastinal lymphadenopathy that was highly suspicious for metastatic disease. Subsequent endobronchial ultrasound-guided lymph node sampling demonstrated anthracosis without evidence of malignancy or infection. Recognition of this rare benign entity prevented cancer upstaging and unnecessary treatment. This case highlights the importance of histopathological confirmation of PET-positive mediastinal lymph nodes, particularly in patients with suspected or known malignancy, to ensure accurate diagnosis and appropriate clinical management.
期刊介绍:
Saudi Journal of Medicine & Medical Sciences (SJMMS) is the official scientific journal of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University. It is an international peer-reviewed, general medical journal. The scope of the Journal is to publish research that will be of interest to health specialties both in academic and clinical practice. The Journal aims at disseminating high-powered research results with the objective of turning research into knowledge. It seeks to promote scholarly publishing in medicine and medical sciences. The Journal is published in print and online. The target readers of the Journal include all medical and health professionals in the health cluster such as in medicine, dentistry, nursing, applied medical sciences, clinical pharmacology, public health, etc.