Lymphopenia during 177Lu-DOTATATE therapy leading to recurrence of tuberculosis: a case report

Sarah Boughdad; Michael Da Mota; Mélanie Mendes De Carvalho; Maria Firsova; John O Prior; Niklaus Schaefer

doi:10.1186/s41824-022-00157-y

Lymphopenia during ¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTATATE therapy leading to recurrence of tuberculosis: a case report

Eur J Hybrid Imaging. 2022 Dec 13;6(1):36. doi: 10.1186/s41824-022-00157-y.

Authors

Sarah Boughdad¹, Michael Da Mota², Mélanie Mendes De Carvalho², Maria Firsova², John O Prior², Niklaus Schaefer²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland. sarah.boughdad@chuv.ch.
² Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Abstract

We report the case of a 72-year-old woman who presented with tuberculous arthritis during the setting of ¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTATATE therapy for a grade-2 neuro-endocrine pancreatic tumor with liver metastases. We hypothesized that this recurrence might have been related to the occurrence of lymphopenia, which is common during PRRT. Indeed, though lymphopenia is frequently dismissed, it could lead to the development of opportunistic diseases and its severity should be examined, especially in case of abnormal clinical symptoms.

Keywords: 177Lu-DOTATATE; Lymphopenia; Pancreatic NET; Tuberculosis.