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Calcified synovial metastasis in the knee from renal cell carcinoma: a case report

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Abstract

We present the case of an 83-year-old man who had painful swelling of right knee for 6 months. Radiographs showed a large intra-articular soft-tissue mass with small calcifications, whereas MRI detected a multilobulated intra-articular tumor with bone erosions at the distal femur. Histopathology of ultrasound-guided biopsy specimen of the synovial mass revealed it to be a poorly differentiated metastatic carcinoma. Abdominal computed tomography with intravenous contrast medium administration found a heterogeneously enhancing large right renal mass with calcifications, which was shown to be a renal cell carcinoma on histopathology. No metastases were found elsewhere. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case with MRI findings of a calcified intra-articular synovial metastasis from renal cell carcinoma.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515- Holcombe Blvd, Unit 1475, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Michael McConnell, Rajendra Kumar & Behrang Amini

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Patrick P Lin

  3. Department of Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Wei-Lien Wang

Authors
  1. Michael McConnell
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  2. Rajendra Kumar
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  3. Behrang Amini
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  4. Patrick P Lin
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  5. Wei-Lien Wang
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Correspondence to Rajendra Kumar.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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McConnell, M., Kumar, R., Amini, B. et al. Calcified synovial metastasis in the knee from renal cell carcinoma: a case report. Skeletal Radiol 46, 123–127 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-016-2504-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-016-2504-6

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