Sister Mary Joseph nodule: an often overlooked or misdiagnosed entity on imaging

Abstract

Sister Mary Joseph nodule (SMJN) is an umbilical nodule representing a metastatic deposit from an intra-abdominal primary malignancy. Most radiologists are unaware of this phenomenon, and cases of SMJN have rarely been described in the radiology literature, to our knowledge. We present an example of a patient with known primary pancreatic adenocarcinoma found to have an umbilical nodule as the first manifestation of metastatic disease after an initial misdiagnosis on computed tomography. In addition, we delineate the importance of maintaining a high index of suspicion and pattern recognition for SMJN during imaging when a patient presents with umbilical pain in the setting of known malignancy, since early diagnosis can alter management.

Keywords: Pancreatic cancer; Sister Mary Joseph nodule; Umbilical metastasis.