Abstract #4398

Spinal Perimedullary Vein Enlargement Sign: An Added Value for the Differentiation between Intradural-Extramedullary and Intramedullary Tumors on MR Imaging

Tao Gong¹, Guangbin Wang¹, and Weibo Chen²

¹Shandong University, Jinan, China, People's Republic of, ²Shanghai, China, People's Republic of

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is widely used to narrow the differential diagnosis in the preoperative study of spinal cord tumors. The use of a medium in MRI is preferred to improve visualization of tumor’s intrinsic characteristics and boundaries, and to identify reactive changes (such as cysts and dilated veins) in adjacent tissues. Most times, it is easy to determine whether a lesion arises from the spinal cord itself or from the IDEM space according to common MRI findings, however, at other times, this might be difficult. There have been reported cases of schwannoma located at IDEM space misdiagnosed with IMT. Thus, radiologists must discern the characteristic imaging features of IDEMs to distinguish them from IMTs. The presence of vein enlargement is often a sign in some cases of intradural spinal tumors , most of which are extramedullary. A perimedullary vein enlargement sign around an intradural spinal tumor (without dilated veins in the tumor)has not been reported, which might be an imaging mark to differentiate IDEMTs from IMTs.The purpose of this study was to determine the added value of the perimedullary spinal vein enlargement sign on MRI in helping to distinguish IDEMTs from IMTs.

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