Symptomatic spinal epidural lipomatosis in a patient with Cushing's disease.

Spinal epidural lipomatosis (SEL) is a rare complication of iatrogenic Cushing's syndrome (CS). There is only one case reported of symptomatic SEL in association with endogenous CS. We present a patient with compressive myeloradiculopathy due to SEL and Cushing's disease and suggest that in SEL of hypercortisolism, the excess of corticosteroids is the stimulus for the growth of adipose tissue in the spinal canal and that treatment should be aimed at correcting the endocrine abnormality.

Reversible cerebral perfusion abnormalities associated with cyclosporine therapy in orthotopic liver transplantation.

A 60-yr-old woman experienced several episodes of generalized seizures following 2 wk of immunosuppressive therapy with cyclosporine for orthotopic liver transplantation. CT showed low density in the white matter of the parieto-occipital lobes. A 99mTc-HMPAO brain SPECT showed diminished perfusion in the parieto-occipital cortex bilaterally. Although the cyclosporine was discontinued, the patient's neurologic status initially worsened and then improved over the next several days. Repeat perfusion brain SPECT showed resolution of most of the perfusion abnormalities, while repeat CT showed persistent white matter changes in the parieto-occipital lobes. We report the presence of reversible cortical perfusion abnormalities in conjunction with cyclosporine therapy. The findings suggest that perfusion brain SPECT may be a sensitive monitor of cyclosporine-induced neurotoxicity.

The significance of sinonasal radiodensities: ossification, calcification, or residual bone?

PURPOSE: To determine whether very radiodense material within a sinonasal soft-tissue mass on CT can be differentiated as calcification, ossification, or residual bone. METHODS: We retrospectively described the radiodensities within 235 sinonasal soft-tissue masses as discrete, solitary or multiple, or as a diffuse process with either a well-defined or poorly defined margin. They were also classified as calcification, ossification, or residual bone. Findings were correlated with pathologic specimens. RESULTS: Residual bone was underdiagnosed; calcification was overdiagnosed. A solitary discrete density was most likely to be calcification within an inflammatory mass. However, multiple discrete densities were as likely to be in a tumor as in an inflammatory lesion. If the process was diffuse with a well-defined margin, it was most likely to be a benign fibroosseous lesion. If the process was diffuse with a poorly defined margin, it was most likely to be a high-grade sarcoma. Densities within inverted papillomas were shown to be residual bone, not calcifications; densities within esthesioneuroblastomas were calcifications. CONCLUSION: Radiodensities may help in refining a CT diagnosis, but one may not know based on CT whether the density is a calcification, ossification, or residual bone.

Inflammatory disease involving a concha bullosa (enlarged pneumatized middle nasal turbinate): MR and CT appearance.

An enlarged pneumatized middle turbinate, called a concha bullosa, may be the site of inflammatory disease ranging from simple mucosal thickening to a mucocele. Four patients with inflammatory disease involving a concha bullosa were studied with MR and/or CT. Both imaging techniques detected the presence of mucosal inflammation and a mucocele within the concha bullosa, but CT better demonstrated the thin bony wall of the mucocele, allowing differentiation from other soft-tissue nasal masses.

Sinonasal esthesioneuroblastoma with intracranial extension: marginal tumor cysts as a diagnostic MR finding.

PURPOSE: To determine whether the MR finding of cysts along the intracranial margin of sinonasal esthesioneuroblastomas can be considered to suggest this tumor. METHODS: MR scans of 54 patients who had sinonasal lesions with intracranial extension were examined specifically for cysts along the intracranial margins of the lesions. RESULTS: Only 3 of the 54 patients had these cysts, and all 3 of these patients had esthesioneuroblastoma. Surgical pathologic findings of one specimen showed the cyst to be marginally located within the tumor. CONCLUSION: If cysts are seen on MR along the intracranial margin of a sinonasal mass, this finding highly suggests esthesioneuroblastoma.

The varied presentations of papillary thyroid carcinoma cervical nodal disease: CT and MR findings.

PURPOSE: To review the varied presentations of metastatic cervical lymph node disease in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma. METHODS: Thirteen cases were retrospectively collected and their clinical, imaging, surgical, and pathologic material was reviewed. In the cases reviewed there was no clinical or imaging evidence of a primary thyroid mass. RESULTS: On CT, metastatic nodes can have multiple discrete calcifications, appear as benign cysts or hyperplastic or hypervascular nodes, or have areas of high attenuation which reflect intranodal hemorrhage and/or high concentrations of thyroglobulin. On MR, the nodes can have low to intermediate T1- and high T2-weighted signal intensities or high T1- and T2-weighted signal intensities, the latter reflecting primarily a high thyroglobulin content. CONCLUSION: If any of these varied appearances of cervical lymph nodes are identified on CT or MR, especially in a woman between 20 and 40 years of age, the radiologist should suspect the diagnosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma, even in the absence of a thyroid mass.

Cervical epidural hematoma after chiropractic manipulation in a healthy young woman: case report.

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: Posttraumatic spinal epidural hematoma is an uncommon entity. We present the first report of spinal epidural hematoma occurring after chiropractic manipulation in a healthy young adult without preexisting cervical disease or any obvious predisposing factors. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: The patient presented with radicular and myelopathic symptoms that developed 15 minutes after chiropractic manipulation. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging were performed. They revealed a cervical epidural hematoma. INTERVENTION: The hematoma was evacuated, and all of the patient's neurological symptoms improved over the course of the next 3 days. CONCLUSION: Although cervical spinal epidural hematoma is a rare clinical entity, it must be considered in patients with pain or neurological deficit after cervical trauma.

Neurosarcoidosis presenting as a tumour of the basal ganglia and brainstem: sequential MRI.

Neurosarcoidosis may spread from the basal leptomeninges via the Virchow-Robin spaces to form intraparenchymal masses. We present a case of sarcoidosis whose first presentation was that of secondary amenorrhoea without other neurological symptoms. Discovery of a mass invading the basal ganglia, hypothalamus, pituitary stalk and midbrain led to a search for systemic involvement. After the diagnosis was proven by mediastinal biopsy, steroids were used effectively to shrink the tumour. Sequential magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies demonstrate dramatic reduction in the mass over a six month period. A high index of suspicion for sarcoidosis in intracranial masses, particularly in young adults, is advocated.

Vertebral artery dissection in Turner's syndrome: diagnosis by magnetic resonance imaging.

Aortic artery dissection is a rare but well-recognized complication of Turner's syndrome. Isolated carotid or vertebral artery dissection has not previously been reported. The authors report the clinical and magnetic resonance imaging findings in a 30-year-old woman with Turner's syndrome who developed a high cervical spinal cord infarction with a Brown-Sequard syndrome owing to bilateral vertebral artery dissection. The diagnosis and management of the case is reviewed.

Calcified sphenoid mucocele.

Sphenoid sinus mucoceles are uncommon lesions, and may rarely contain calcifications within their wall. We describe a new appearance of this lesion--sphenoid sinus mucocele with gross calcifications within its matrix.

Venous architecture of cerebral hemispheric white matter and comments on pathogenesis of medullary venous and other cerebral vascular malformations.

The parenchymal veins, especially the deep medullary veins, of the cerebral hemispheres were studied in detail by analyzing the stereoroentgenograms of multiple brain slices of postmortem injected brain specimens (injected into the internal carotid arteries in 17 cases and into the jugular veins in 12 cases). The presence of four zones--the first (or outer), the second (or candelabra), the third (or palmate) and the fourth (or subependymal) zone--of venous convergence was confirmed within the centrum semiovale, particularly in the frontoparietal area. Other venous convergences such as those related to the optic radiation in the para-atrial area were also found. Arterial branching zones were also observed in the areas similar to those of the medullary veins. It appears that these converging zones are created by rapidly growing crossing nerve fiber tracts, i.e., projection, commissural, and association fibers which grow rapidly during intrauterine and postnatal life. Pathogenesis of medullary venous malformation is also discussed from anatomical viewpoint, venoarchitecture of the pial, parenchymal, and subependymal veins and of the dural venous sinuses. The possibility of a similar mechanism (partial, mild, repetitive venoocclusive disease developing over a long period with fluctuating venous pressure) leading to formation of most (if not all) cases of medullary venous malformation and in some, if not many, cases of cerebral vascular malformations [aside from gene abnormality (chromosome 7) in familial cavernous angiomatosis, particularly in Hispanic American or other familial hereditary conditions] has been postulated.

MRI of lumbar intradural disc herniation.

We present the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) appearance of a patient with an intradural lumbar disc herniation and discuss this entity. This case demonstrates the role of MRI in comparison to myelography/postmyelogram computed tomography with respect to the diagnosis of intradural disc herniation.

Evidence for arterial embolization in dissecting aneurysm of the cervical vertebral artery.

Ultrasonographic imaging of the right cervical vertebral artery in a 57-year-old man with recurrent episodes of ischemia in the vertebrobasilar territory revealed a dissecting aneurysm with communication of the true and false lumen. This finding demonstrates that arterial dissection can form a nidus for distal embolization and supports the use of anticoagulation in this disorder.

The benign fibroosseous lesion: its association with paranasal sinus mucoceles and its MR appearance.

Although fibrous dysplasia and ossifying fibroma of the facial bones may, with some difficulty, be distinguishable pathologically, they are inseparable radiographically. Based on a study of 30 patients, there was no good or reliable imaging correlation with the histology and the degree of ossification or the bone(s) involved. Therefore, "benign fibroosseous lesion" has been proposed by several noted bone authorities as the term for these entities. Eleven patients had MRI and the overall signal intensities were low on both T1-weighted and T2-weighted sequences. Areas of high signal intensity on T2-weighted imaging correlated with either cysts within the lesion or the presence of mucocele, especially in the frontoethmoid region. Four such mucoceles are presented. The coexistence of mucoceles and benign fibroosseous lesions may be more common than previously reported. It is both realistic and appropriate for the radiologist to diagnose these entities as benign fibroosseous lesions and leave the final histologic diagnosis to the pathologist who can diagnose most such cases, albeit with some difficulty. Sites of high signal intensity on T2-weighted imaging in the frontoethmoid area should raise the possibility of a coexistent mucocele.

Eccentric cystic facial schwannoma: CT and MR features.

Facial schwannomas are uncommon lesions with a fairly characteristic range of clinical and radiographic presentations. This report describes an unusual case of facial schwannoma that clinically and radiographically mimicked a cystic skull base lesion extrinsically compressing the facial nerve. The MR findings are presented.

Simulated aggressive skull base erosion in response to benign sinonasal disease.

Benign sinonasal masses and slow-growing neoplasms tend to remodel the nasal vault and facial bones, and this is particularly true of nasal polyps and inverted papillomas. However, when such benign masses press against the floor of the anterior cranial fossa and the walls of the sphenoid sinuses, simulated aggressive bone destruction rather than bone remodeling usually occurs. This type of bone destruction implies to the radiologist that a carcinoma may also be present, and this information could dissuade a surgeon from operating with an attempt at cure. In fact, about 90% of the time with inverted papillomas and in virtually all cases of nasal polyposis, no carcinoma is present. The computed tomographic (CT) scans and magnetic resonance images of 14 patients are used to demonstrate these changes. In addition, the CT scans of three patients with malignancies are shown to illustrate the similarity in the bony skull base changes.

Hemorrhaged cystic hygroma and facial nerve paralysis: CT and MR findings.

The association of peripheral facial nerve paralysis and cystic hygroma is rare, this being only the third reported case. In this patient paralysis was secondary to hemorrhage within the cyst and nerve compression. Although the magnetic resonance studies allowed the diagnosis to be made eventually, the complex signal intensities due to excessive bleeding within the cyst confused the issue. In this case, CT allowed an immediate diagnosis to be established.

MR imaging of intracranial fluid levels.

Six patients with seven intracranial fluid levels were evaluated with both CT and MR at 1.5 T. A surgical diagnosis was obtained in six of the seven instances. MR was found to be superior to CT in detecting intracranial fluid levels, and the MR signal characteristics were helpful in identifying their contents. These cases demonstrate the necessity for a slightly different approach to lesions with fluid levels. In one patient, imaging in the prone position allowed detection of a solid component; in several others, detection of the fluid level was dependent on the selection of nonroutine windows and levels. Fluid levels are classified with respect to their components and MR features. MR is superior to CT in imaging fluid levels. The appearance of fluid levels on MR varies with their composition, the ratio of the components, the sequence parameters, and the position of the patient.