J Korean Soc Radiol.  2011 Aug;65(2):147-150. 10.3348/jksr.2011.65.2.147.

Primary Amyloidosis Involving Mediastinal and Cervical Lymph Nodes: A Case Report

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu, Daegu, Korea. kjjung@cu.ac.kr

Abstract

Amyloidosis is a rare disease characterized by the accumulation of an insoluble protein called 'amyloid' in various soft tissues and organs. Primary localized amyloidosis involving the mediastinal and cervical lymph nodes is extremely rare. A 68-year-old man was hospitalized a few days ago for recent cerebral infarction and was diagnosed with primary localized amyloidosis manifesting as mediastinal and cervical lymphadenopathy with calcification. In this review, we report a case of primary localized amyloidosis involving the mediastinal and cervical lymph nodes along with its computed tomography findings. Amyloidosis should be considered as part of the differential diagnosis when the lymph nodes show low central attenuation and various types of calcification.


MeSH Terms

Aged
Amyloidosis
Cerebral Infarction
Diagnosis, Differential
Humans
Lymph Nodes
Lymphatic Diseases
Rare Diseases
Amyloidosis

Figure

  • Fig. 1 A 68-year-old man with primary amyloidosis involving mediastinal and cervical lymph nodes. A. Chest PA radiograph shows superior mediastinal widening (arrow). Stippled calcifications are seen within the mediastinal widening. B. Coronal reconstruction image of post-contrast chest CT shodws conglomerated lymph node enlargement containing multiple stippled and nodular calcifications (arrowheads). C. The other coronal image posterior to (B) reveals central low density area (arrow) within the enlarged right paratracheal lymph node. D. Sonography-guided biopsy specimen with Congo red staining shows replacement of lymph node tissue by amyloid materials with apple-green birefringence (arrowheads) under the polarized light (× 400).


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