MR of spinal cord ganglioglioma

Our purpose was to describe the MR imaging features in a series of spinal intramedullary gangliogliomas and to compare these findings with the MR features of intramedullary astrocytomas and ependymomas. A retrospective analysis was performed of 76 MR examinations in 27 patients with histologically p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of neuroradiology 1998-05, Vol.19 (5), p.879-887
Main Authors: Patel, U, Pinto, RS, Miller, DC, Handler, MS, Rorke, LB, Epstein, FJ, Kricheff, II
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Astrocytoma - diagnosis
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child, Preschool
Comparative Study
Cysts - diagnosis
Ependymoma - diagnosis
Female
Ganglioglioma - diagnosis
Ganglioglioma - pathology
Humans
Image Enhancement
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Medical sciences
Neurology
Retrospective Studies
Spinal Cord Neoplasms - diagnosis
Spinal Cord Neoplasms - pathology
Tumors of the nervous system. Phacomatoses
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Summary:Our purpose was to describe the MR imaging features in a series of spinal intramedullary gangliogliomas and to compare these findings with the MR features of intramedullary astrocytomas and ependymomas. A retrospective analysis was performed of 76 MR examinations in 27 patients with histologically proved spinal ganglioglioma; these were then compared with imaging findings in a representative sample of histologically proved spinal cord astrocytomas and ependymomas. Statistically significant observations regarding spinal gangliogliomas included young age of the patients (mean, 12 years), long tumor length, presence of tumoral cyst, presence of bone erosion and scoliosis, absence of edema, presence of mixed signal intensity on T1-weighted images, and presence of patchy enhancement and cord surface enhancement. A trend (not statistically significant) was noted for holocord involvement and lack of magnetic susceptibility. Spinal ganglioglioma can be strongly suspected if MR images reflect the above criteria; however, the ultimate diagnosis still depends on radical resection and appropriate histopathologic investigation.
ISSN:0195-6108
1936-959X