MRI in patients with tuberculous spondylitis presenting as vertebra plana: a retrospective analysis and review of literature.

AIM: To present the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of 10 patients with histopathologically proven tuberculous spondylitis (TS) presenting as vertebra plana (VP) on radiographs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Radiographs of 451 adult TS patients were reviewed. In this consecutive series, there were 11 patients who presented as VP. MRI of 10 of these patients was available for review. RESULTS: VP-like collapse of a single vertebral body of the dorsal spine with preserved endplates and disc was seen in all cases. Epidural, pre- and para-vertebral soft tissue was found in all patients. Epidural soft tissue presenting on sagittal images as a convexity of the posterior longitudinal ligament was also found in all the signal of which was different from the involved vertebra on axial images. All patients showed posterior element involvement, which was characterized by preserved cortical outline without expansion. CONCLUSION: TS presenting with VP-like collapse of the bone is rare, accounting for 2.4% of the cases in the present series. MRI may show a collapsed vertebra with preserved endplates and disc. MRI findings that are suggestive of TS include: (1) signal intensity of the epidural soft-tissue mass on axial images, which is different from the vertebral body; (2) presence of a thin, T2-weighted hypointense capsule of the para-vertebral soft tissue; (3) posterior element involvement characterized by intact hypointense cortical outline without expansion; and (4) involvement of the costovertebral joint.

Dynamic 3 T MRI of temporomandibular joint in diagnosing a stuck disk.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the imaging modality of choice in the evaluation of internal derangement of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Dynamic MRI including the open and close mouth views in sagittal plane determine the exact position of articular disk and thus help to evaluate the joint for internal derangement. We also highlight the role of dynamic MRI of TMJ in diagnosis of stuck disk in a 17-year-old male who presented with symptoms of pain and difficulty in opening the mouth.

Clinico-radiological spectrum of bilateral temporal lobe hyperintensity: a retrospective review.

Bilateral temporal lobe hyperintensity (BTH) is a commonly encountered MRI finding in a wide spectrum of clinical conditions and often poses a diagnostic challenge to the radiologist. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate several diseases that manifest as BTH on MRI, based on a retrospective review of cranial MRI of 65 cases seen in our institution between October 2007 and September 2010. We found BTH in different clinical scenarios that included infective diseases (herpes simplex virus, congenital cytomegalovirus infection), epileptic syndrome (mesial temporal sclerosis), neurodegenerative disorders (Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, Type 1 myotonic dystrophy), neoplastic conditions (gliomatosis cerebri), metabolic disorders (mitochondrial encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes, Wilson's disease, hyperammonemia), dysmyelinating disease (megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts), and vascular (cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy) and paraneoplastic (limbic encephalitis) disorders. The conventional MRI findings with advanced MRI such as diffusion-weighted imaging, susceptibility-weighted imaging and MR spectroscopy along with laboratory results are potentially helpful in distinguishing the different clinical conditions and thus affect the early diagnosis and clinical outcome.

Skull base hydatid cyst with intracranial extension presenting as vocal cord palsy: a case report.

Hydatid disease of the skull base is extremely rare, and intracranial extension of hydatid cysts through the skull base is even rarer. We report an interesting case of a 42-year-old man who presented with features of right vocal cord palsy. The diagnosis of hydatid cyst was made based on his history and on pre-operative MRI and was confirmed by surgery and histopathological examination.

MRI of brachial plexopathies.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become the primary imaging technique in the evaluation of brachial plexus pathology, and plays an important role in the identification, localization, and characterization of the cause. Improvements in MRI technique have helped in detecting changes in the signal intensity of nerves, subtle enhancement, and in detecting perineural pathology, thereby refining the differential diagnosis. The present review of the visualization of brachial plexus abnormalities using MRI is based on a review of 26 cases. The causes include trauma and a spectrum of non-traumatic causes, such as acute idiopathic/viral plexitis, metastases, immune-mediated plexitis, and mass lesions compressing the brachial plexus.

Pulmonary lymphomatoid granulomatosis in a renal allograft recipient.

Lymphomatoid granulomatosis (LYG) is a rare multisystemic angiocentric lymphoproliferative disease, which can masquerade as necrotic tissue. There is a paucity of reports of LYG in renal transplant recipients. Herein, we describe LYG in a 56-year-old renal allograft recipient 11 years after transplantation, on azathioprine and prednisolone maintenance immunosuppression, presenting to us with fever, weight loss, and nodular and patchy opacities in both lung fields. Initial percutaneous samples showed necrotic tissue while open biopsy revealed characteristic histopathology with evidence of Epstein-Barr virus. We have reviewed the radiological and pathological findings, and discussed clinical features, differential diagnosis, and treatment of LYG.