History: 15 year old boy with headache and arm numbness. This is a case of a Chiari 1 malformation, which is is defined as caudal extension of the cerebellar tonsils 5 mm below the foramen magnum. Syringomyelia (syrinx) is seen in one-half of the patients, and it is not associated with other neurulation malformations. There are three main types … Continue reading
History: 9 year old boy with nasal congestion and epistaxis (bloody nose) Osteosarcoma uncommonly arises in craniofacial bones, but when it does it occurs most often in bones of the jaw and has only very rarely been reported to arise in the nasal cavity or paranasal sinuses as a primary tumor. Most sinonasal osteosarcomas are high grade. … Continue reading
History: 4 day old baby with apnea The germinal matrix is the site of proliferating neuronal and glial precursors in the developing brain, which is located above the caudate nucleus in the floor of the lateral ventricle and caudothalamic groove. The germinal matrix contains a rich network of fragile thin-walled blood vessels. Hence the microcirculation in … Continue reading
History: 20 year old female with headache and blurry vision This is a case of a Rathke cleft cyst, which is a benign suprasellar mass. Rathke’s pouch is a depression in the roof of the developing mouth in front of the buccopharyngeal membrane. It gives rise to the anterior pituitary (adenohypophysis), a part of the endocrine system. Rathke’s pouch normally closes early … Continue reading
Lower back pain (also called “lumbago”) is one of the most common medical problems in the United States, affecting up to 40% of all people at some point in their lives. According to the National Institutes of Health, Americans spend at least $50 billion each year on low back pain, and it is the most common … Continue reading
History: 6 year old male with abdominal pain Unfortunately, this is a case of metastatic neuroblastoma in a 6 year old male which was diagnosed initially on MRI. Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid malignancy in children, and the third most common overall cancer in children. They most commonly arise from the adrenal medulla … Continue reading
History: 16 year old with abdominal pain This is a case of perforated appendicitis. Appendicitis usually occurs due to obstruction of the appendix at its origin from the cecum, in this case due to an appendicolith. This causes build up of secretions and mucus within the lumen of the appendix, which then dilates. The resultant … Continue reading
History: 13 year old female with pelvic pain This is a case of a bicornuate uterus with hydrosalpinx of the right fallopian tube. Read about Imaging of Mullerian Duct Anomalies. Uterine didelphys ultrasound.
History: 14 year old female with right lower quadrant pain This is the appearance of an ovarian dermoid cyst on MRI, also known as a mature teratoma. The name teratoma gives a clue as to the histology of the dermoid cyst, usually containing parenchymal cell types from all three germ cell layers (mesoderm, endoderm, and … Continue reading
History: adult male with ankle pain. This is the appearance of osteochondral injuries on plain radiography and MRI. The term osteochondral lesion has been broadly applied to include abnormalities of the bone and cartilage that are not acute. In the ankle, osteochondral injuries are most common at the middle third of the lateral talar dome … Continue reading