Skip to main content

CASE REPORT article

Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Neuroendocrine Science
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1258233
This article is part of the Research Topic Management of neuroendocrine tumors of the head and neck View all 6 articles

Esophageal schwannoma mimicking non-functional parathyroid adenoma on 99m Tc-sestamibi imaging: a case report

Provisionally accepted
Edwige Gombert Edwige Gombert 1*Roberto Fiore Roberto Fiore 2*Stefano La Rosa Stefano La Rosa 3*Vincent Dunet Vincent Dunet 4Gerasimos Sykiotis Gerasimos Sykiotis 2François Gorostidi François Gorostidi 1*
  • 1 Service of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland
  • 2 Service of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland
  • 3 Institute of Pathology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland
  • 4 Service of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Technetium-99m sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography ( 99m Tc-sestamibi SPECT/CT) is a mainstay of the pre-operative localization of parathyroid lesions. We report here the case of a 30 year-old woman with a fortuitously discovered 2 cm cervical mass for which a parathyroid origin was originally suspected due to its retro-thyroidal localization and a personal history of nephrolithiasis. Normal serum calcium and parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels excluded primary hyperparathyroidism, raising suspicion of a non-functional parathyroid adenoma, and SPECT/CT imaging showed that the mass was 99m Tc-sestamibi-avid. Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) was performed; cytology was non-diagnostic but the needle washout was negative for thyroglobulin, calcitonin and PTH, arguing against a thyroidal or parathyroidal origin of the mass. Core needle biopsy revealed a schwannoma, ostensibly originating from the recurrent laryngeal nerve; upon surgical resection, it was finally found to arise from the esophageal submucosa. This case illustrates the fact that endocrinologists, radiologists, nuclear medicine, head and neck, and other specialists investigating patients with cervical masses should be aware that schwannomas need to be considered in the differential diagnosis of focal 99m Tc-sestamibi uptake in the neck region.

    Keywords: Schwannoma, parathyroid, Sestamibi, Single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography, case report

    Received: 13 Jul 2023; Accepted: 02 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Gombert, Fiore, La Rosa, Dunet, Sykiotis and Gorostidi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Edwige Gombert, Service of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland
    Roberto Fiore, Service of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland
    Stefano La Rosa, Institute of Pathology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland
    François Gorostidi, Service of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.