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CC BY 4.0 · World J Nucl Med
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1813679
Case Report

Pleural Hemangioma Detected by 18F-PSMA PET/CT in High-Risk Prostate Cancer Staging: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Authors

  • André Marcondes Braga Ribeiro 

    1   Department of Nuclear Medicine, A. C. Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo, Brazil

  • Cíntia Natália Gotardo

    1   Department of Nuclear Medicine, A. C. Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo, Brazil

  • Stephania Martins Bezerra

    2   Department of Anatomic Pathology, A. C. Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo, Brazil

  • Lizieux Matos Fernandes

    3   Department of Radiology, A. C. Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo, Brazil

Funding A.M.B.R.: Payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing, or educational events—Novartis. C.N.G., S.M.B., L.M.F.: None.
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Abstract

Prostate cancer (PCa) staging has advanced significantly with the emergence of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). However, PSMA-labeled radiotracers uptake is not exclusive to PCa, leading to potential pitfalls. We report an unusual case of a 71-year-old man with high-risk PCa undergoing initial staging with PET/CT using 18F-labeled PSMA (18F-PSMA), which revealed an unexpected uptake in a pleural nodular lesion. Given the extreme rarity of PCa pleural metastases, an excisional biopsy of the lesion was performed. Histopathological analysis confirmed the diagnosis of a pleural lobular capillary hemangioma, a benign vascular tumor extremely rare in this location. This case represents the first documented instance of PSMA radiopharmaceutical uptake in a pleural hemangioma, expanding the spectrum of known PSMA PET/CT pitfalls. This finding underscores the importance of histopathological confirmation for atypical PSMA PET/CT findings in unusual locations, preventing incorrect staging and avoiding inappropriate therapeutic decisions.

Keywords

18F-PSMA PET/CT - case report - pitfall - pleural hemangioma - prostate cancer

Informed Consent

The authors certify that they have obtained all appropriate patient consent forms. In the form the patient(s) has/have given his/her/their consent for his/her/their images and other clinical information to be reported in the journal. The patients understand that their names and initials will not be published, and due efforts will be made to conceal their identity, but anonymity cannot be guaranteed.


Note

This case report was written in conformance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional responsible committee on human experimentation.


Authors' Contributions

A.M.B.R. was involved in conceptualization, patient consent, ethical approval, drafting manuscript, supervision, critical revision, and final approval. C.N.G. helped in data collection, analysis and interpretation, and drafting manuscript. S.M.B. contributed to data collection, analysis and interpretation, and drafting manuscript. L.M.F. helped in conceptualization and critical revision.




Publication History

Article published online:
23 November 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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