Symptomatic intracranial pneumatocele from mastoid sinus of spontaneous origin. Case report.

A case of a large intracranial pneumatocele arising from mastoid air cells is reported. The patient became symptomatic after multiple coughing spells and required craniotomy for repair of the dural hiatus. The possible etiology of such a large spontaneous pneumatocele is discussed in the context of a review of the pertinent literature.

Percutaneous drainage of infected and noninfected thoracic fluid collections.

Radiologically guided aspiration and drainage of thoracic fluid collections is an improvement on standard "blind" techniques for chest-tube insertion. Specific indications for radiologic drainage are broadening, and instead of failed surgical cases only, patients now are commonly referred for drainage. Most of these procedures are effective and the complication rate vis-à-vis alternatives is acceptable. Soft 12-F catheters suffice in most cases and are relatively comfortable to large-bore tubes.

Localization grid for MR-guided biopsy.

A localization grid for use with magnetic resonance (MR)-guided biopsies was designed and evaluated. First, the signal intensities of various concentrations of Gd-DTPA in polyethylene tubes of different sizes and at various pulse sequences were evaluated. The optimal signal intensity on all pulse sequences was obtained with a concentration of 500 microM. A grid was then made with 5-mm-diameter polyethylene tubes filled with 500-microM Gd-DTPA. The grid has provided excellent localization for MR-guided biopsy and fluid aspiration.