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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2022; 32(04): 615-620
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1755266
Case Report

A Rare Case of Primary Hyperparathyroidism Presenting as a C2 Brown Tumor-Plain Radiography Has yet again Proved Indispensable in Clinching the Diagnosis

Jyoti Panwar
1   Department of Radiodiagnosis, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Tameem A. Bhat
1   Department of Radiodiagnosis, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Saket Ballabh
1   Department of Radiodiagnosis, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Deepak Abraham
2   Department of Endocrine Surgery, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Felix K. Jebasingh 
3   Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
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Abstract

A brown tumor is one of the manifestations of hyperparathyroidism. It is a rare type of bone lesion that most often occurs in mandible, ribs, and large bones. Spinal involvement is extremely rare. We report an unusual case of a brown tumor of the axis vertebra in a 33-year-old male who presented to the orthopaedic clinic with posttraumatic C2 vertebra fracture and myelopathy. To plan further fixation and stabilization of C2 fracture, the patient underwent a plain radiograph and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the cervical spine. The available routine chest radiograph at the time of MRI reporting clinched the diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism with a brown tumor of the axis vertebra. Thus, familiarity with subtle radiographic findings of this condition not only led to early diagnosis and appropriate treatment but also avoided unnecessary C2 biopsy and hardware fixation.

Keywords

primary hyperparathyroidism - brown tumor - plain radiograph - C2 vertebra - axis vertebra


Publication History

Article published online:
30 August 2022

© 2022. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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