Incidental Detection of Malignant Pleural Effusion on Sestamibi Myocardial Perfusion Scan

Incidentally the diagnosis of pleural effusions can be made with scintigraphic studies. We report a case of incidental detection of pleural effusion in sestamibi myocardial perfusion scan. A 64-year-old man with a history of chest pain was referred for Sestamibi myocardial perfusion scintigraphy. The review of cine data revealed an area of radiotracer accumulation in the left hemithorax. Subsequent chest X-ray and computed tomography revealed a relatively massive pleural effusion. Microscopic evaluation confirmed the malignant nature of pleural effusion, the origin of which was an ipsilateral pulmonary adenocarcinoma. As to our knowledge, it is the first report of sestamibi uptake in pleural effusion fluid. In our opinion, this finding could be explained by radiotracer uptake in the malignant component of the effusion. Reporting of these incidental findings could be important and sometimes can be resulted in determining previously unknown pathologies.