History: Parent concerned child swallowed a “foreign body.”
![Frontal radiograph of the chest demonstrating a Mickey Mouse shaped key ring in the mid thoracic esophagus. See Mickey Mouse photo for comparison. Case from www.radpod.org](https://radiologypics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/mickey-mouse-chest-xray.png?w=238&h=300)
This is what I’ve termed a “pseudo-Mickey Mouse sign,” as there are many other real Mickey Mouse signs in radiology. For example, anencephaly (see below), progressive supranuclear palsy, outward flair of the iliac wings in Down Syndrome, radiotracer uptake in the pedicles on bone scan for Paget’s disease (see below).
![Case from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov](https://radiologypics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/mickey-mouse-bone-scan.jpg?w=300&h=215)
![The Mickey Mouse sign of Anencephaly. Case from Chatzipapas, et al.](https://radiologypics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/mickey-mouse-ultrasound-anencephaly.png?w=300&h=130)
The Mickey Mouse sign can also be used to help identify normal anatomy, such as the portal triad on ultrasound.
![CBD = common bile duct, HA = hepatic artery, PV = portal vein. Case from CarmenWiki.](https://radiologypics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/mickey-mouse-sign-portal-triad.jpg?w=300&h=225)
Leave a comment