Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disease characterized by the formation of noncaseating granulomas. Lung and intrathoracic lymph nodes are classic sites of involvement; however, sarcoidosis can affect any site in the body. The clinical course is extremely variable, and the imaging features are diverse and dependent on the affected site, degree of inflammation, and treatment the patient receives. Atypical manifestations and imaging findings can make diagnosis and/or management challenging. In addition, assessment of treatment response can be difficult in the setting of chronic disease. Fluorine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT is sensitive for assessment of the inflammatory activity of sarcoidosis in any organ. Although FDG PET/CT is not included in the standard workup for sarcoidosis, there has been growing evidence that supports the value of this examination in guiding diagnosis and management. FDG PET/CT may be especially useful for assessing reversible granuloma, treatment response, disease extent, occult disease, and cardiac or osseous sarcoidosis, and determining the most suitable biopsy site. Capability to image the entire body during a single examination is advantageous in cases of systemic disease such as sarcoidosis. The authors review the use of FDG PET/CT, providing up-to-date evidence and describing various cases of sarcoidosis in which FDG PET/CT has an important role in diagnosis and/or management. They also discuss the usefulness of FDG PET/CT in cases of selective manifestations of sarcoidosis. RSNA, 2018.

Intraventricular cavernomas are so uncommon that only 42 well-documented cases have been previously reported in the literature. It seems that their radiological diagnosis may be difficult because of their uncommon location in the ventricular system and their voluminous size. A wrong preoperative diagnosis has sometimes been the cause of inefficient therapy, such as radiotherapy, for these surgically curable benign lesions.

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Once temozolomide has failed, no other treatment is recommended for pituitary carcinomas and aggressive pituitary tumors. Recently, the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has raised hope, but so far, only one corticotroph carcinoma and one aggressive corticotroph tumor treated with immunotherapies have been reported in the literature. Here, we present two cases, one corticotroph carcinoma and one aggressive prolactinoma (the first one reported in the literature) treated with ipilimumab (1 mg/kg) and nivolumab (3 mg/kg) every three weeks, followed by maintenance treatment with nivolumab (3 mg/kg every 2 weeks) in the case of the corticotroph carcinoma, and we compare them with the two previously reported cases. Patient #1 presented a biochemical partial response (plasma ACTH decreased from 13,813 to 841 pg/mL) and dissociated radiological response to the combined ipilimumab and nivolumab—the pituitary mass decreased from 37 × 32 × 41 to 29 × 23 × 42 mm, and the pre-existing liver metastases decreased in size (the largest one from 45 to 14 mm) or disappeared, while a new 11-mm liver metastasis appeared. The maintenance nivolumab (21 cycles) resulted in a stable disease for the initial liver metastases, and in progressive disease for the newly appeared metastasis (effectively treated with radiofrequency ablation) and the pituitary mass. Patient #2 presented radiological and biochemical progressive disease after two cycles of ICIs—the pituitary mass increased from 38 × 42 × 26 to 53 × 57 × 44 mm, and the prolactin levels increased from 4410 to 9840 ng/mL. In conclusion, ICIs represent a promising therapeutic option for aggressive pituitary tumors and carcinomas. The identification of subgroups of responders will be key.

Background A larger defect in the annulus fibrosus following lumbar discectomy is a well-known risk factor for reherniation. Procedures intended to prevent reherniation by sealing or occluding the annular defect warrant study in high-risk patients. This study sought to determine 3-year results of lumbar discectomy with a bone-anchored annular closure device (ACD) or lumbar discectomy only (controls) in patients at high risk for reherniation. Methods This multicenter randomized trial enrolled patients with sciatica due to lumbar intervertebral disc herniation who failed conservative treatment. Patients with large annular defects after lumbar limited microdiscectomy were intraoperatively randomly assigned to receive ACD or control. Clinical and imaging follow-up was performed at routine intervals over 3 years. Main outcomes included rate of reherniations, reoperations, and endplate changes; leg and back pain scores on a visual analogue scale; Oswestry Disability Index (ODI); Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores from the SF-36; and adverse events adjudicated by a data safety monitoring board. Results Among 554 randomized patients, the modified intent-to-treat population consisted of 272 patients in which ACD implantation was attempted and 278 receiving control; device implantation was not attempted in 4 patients assigned to ACD. Outcomes at 3 years favored ACD for symptomatic reherniation (14.8% vs. 29.5%; P < 0.001), reoperation (11.0% vs. 19.3%; P = 0.007), leg pain (21 vs. 30; P < 0.01), back pain (23 vs. 30; P = 0.01), ODI (18 vs. 23; P = 0.02), PCS (47 vs. 44; P < 0.01), and MCS (52 vs. 49; P < 0.01). The frequency of all-cause serious adverse events was comparable between groups (42.3% vs. 44.5%; P = 0.61). Conclusions The addition of a bone-anchored ACD in patients with large annular defects following lumbar discectomy reduces the risk of reherniation and reoperation, and has a similar safety profile over 3-year follow-up compared with lumbar limited discectomy only. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01283438 Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00701-019-03948-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.