Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma With an Atypical Presentation: A Solitary Paravertebral Mass on FDG PET/CT.

An 81-year-old woman was admitted with chest tightness and shortness of breath. Chest CT revealed massive pleural effusion on the right side as well as a right paravertebral soft tissue mass at the T8 to T10 level, showing intense enhancement. Her symptoms were successfully relieved by thoracentesis catheter drainage. On PET/CT, the paravertebral lesion demonstrated increased FDG uptake with an SUVmax of 7.5, indicating a suspected diagnosis of malignancy. Eventually, a CT-guided needle biopsy was performed, which confirmed the diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.