Magnetic resonance imaging of the bone marrow in 3 patients with aplastic anemia.

Bone marrow appearances in aplastic anemia are characterized by the abundance of fatty marrow that replaces normal functional marrow. The signal intensity of aplastic bone marrow in sagittal T1-weighted magnetic resonance images of the spine is bright, resembling that of subcutaneous fat and, in most cases, is not difficult to differentiate from normal age-related marrow changes. Three patients with aplastic anemia are described, and the correlation of magnetic resonance imaging of the spine with bone marrow trephine biopsy findings in these patients is portrayed. Magnetic resonance imaging is an accessible, non-invasive technique that allows sampling of a larger volume of bone marrow tissue and is especially useful in the detection of fatty marrow replacement of the normal functional marrow in aplastic anemia.

Radiological manifestations of madura foot in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

A total of 29 patients with mycologically and histopathologically proven mycetomas were examined for radiological manifestations from April 1984 to March 1996. Twenty cases were actinomycotic mycetomas, while nine were maduromycotic mycetomas. Plain x-rays of the regions of interest were taken in all the cases and CT scan was performed on five selected cases to compare the findings. Soft tissue changes were observed in all the examined cases, while bony changes were observed in 16 (55.7%). CT scan is useful for showing soft tissue changes, erosion and destruction of bone in cases with an early infection only, which cannot be demonstrated in plain radiographs.