Early detection of bone marrow involvement in extramedullary plasmacytoma by whole-body F-18 FDG positron emission tomography.

The utility of positron emission tomography (PET) with the glucose analog 2-deoxy-2-[F-18] fluoro-D-glucose (F-18 FDG) in plasmacytoma has not been well evaluated. The authors report a case of extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP) in which whole-body F-18 FDG PET was useful in the early detection of bone marrow involvement. A 34-year-old woman had EMP without histologic or radiologic evidence of bone lesions. However, the early phase of bone marrow involvement was considered because of spotty accumulation shown by F-18 FDG PET. A follow-up F-18 FDG PET study after radiotherapy showed intense multifocal accumulation in the bone marrow, which was confirmed on bone marrow aspiration as abnormal proliferation of plasma cells. Whole-body F-18 FDG PET has the potential to detect the early phase of bone marrow involvement in patients with EMP.