Breast Implants Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Breast Implants, including details on silicone implant, breast augmentation, surgery, risks.

Costosternal chondrodynia simulating recurrent breast cancer unveiled by FDG PET.

Mathew AS, El-Haddad G, Lilien DL, Takalkar AM

PET Imaging Center, Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana, Shreveport, Louisiana 71105, USA.

FDG-PET imaging, which is routinely used to assess recurrent breast cancer, is nonspecific for malignancies and can detect several inflammatory lesions. Costochondritis following breast reconstructive surgery, presenting with excruciating chest pain or "chondrodynia," is a rare variant of Tietze's syndrome thought to occur due to traction exerted by large breast implants. Diagnosis is usually clinical because no abnormalities are identified on conventional imaging. Two cases have been reported in the literature, but none with FDG-PET. We report a patient with treated breast cancer, presenting with chest pain where FDG-PET to assess for recurrence was consistent with costochondritis and peri-implant inflammation.

Published 23 April 2008 in Clin Nucl Med, 33(5): 330-2.
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