Vertebral sarcoidosis: long-term follow-up with MRI

Vertebral involvement in sarcoidosis is rare and its clinical and imaging features are non-specific. Indeed, because the lesions are hard to differentiate from metastatic disease based on imaging alone, a histological confirmation is advised. Fatty replacement is a well-known finding indicating stabilization and healing in both benign and malignant conditions. It can be used as an indicator of a favorable disease course and response to treatment. We report the case of a 43-year-old woman with multifocal vertebral sarcoidosis lesions and long-term follow-up showing progressive and gradual fatty involution on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during 4 years of steroid treatment with a final favorable outcome. (orig.)