Conditions Simulating Primary Bone Neoplasms.

A number of nonneoplastic conditions can mimic tumors of bone. Some of the more common mimics of primary bone tumors include infectious, inflammatory, periosteal, and degenerative joint disease-associated lesions that produce tumorlike bone surface-based or intraosseous lesions. This article considers a spectrum of reactive and nonreactive processes including stress fracture, subchondral cysts, osteonecrosis, heterotopic ossification, osteomyelitis, sarcoidosis, and amyloidoma that can present in such a way that they are mistaken for a tumor arising primary in bone.

Spectrum of Benign Articular and Periarticular Findings at FDG PET/CT.

Whole-body fluorine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron-emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) is performed primarily for oncologic indications; however, FDG uptake is not specific for malignancy. Herein we focus on causes of increased FDG uptake in and around joints, as lesions in these locations are commonly benign. A combination of primary intra-articular processes and osseous processes that may occur near the joint space will be discussed.

MR Imaging of the Nerves of the Upper Extremity: Elbow to Wrist.

The peripheral nervous system is susceptible to a diverse array of pathologic insults, broadly categorizable into those entities intrinsic to the nerves themselves, either primarily arising within the nerve(s) or direct involvement of the nerve(s) secondary to a systemic process, and those processes external to the nerve(s) proper but affecting them extrinsically via mass effect, such as entrapment neuropathies. The soft tissue contrast inherent to high-quality MR imaging allows for outstanding visualization of the peripheral nervous system and surrounding structures. This review focuses on the use of MR imaging in the diagnosis and management of peripheral nerve disorders of the upper extremity.

Malignant involvement of the peripheral nervous system in patients with cancer: multimodality imaging and pathologic correlation.

The clinical and imaging evaluation of peripheral neuropathies in patients with cancer is challenging. It is critically important to differentiate malignant invasion of the peripheral nervous system from nonmalignant causes, such as radiation-induced neuritis, neuropathy associated with chemotherapy, and inflammatory neuropathies. Contrast material-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is the initial noninvasive test of choice; however, interpretation can be challenging when the anatomic features are distorted by prior surgery, radiation, or both.

Hemi-body port-wine stains and progressive paresis due to territorial perineuriomas.

We present a case of a biopsy-proven intraneural perineurioma involving the left lumbosacral and brachial plexus with prominent hemi-body port wine stains in the associated dermatomes. The relationship between the two entities is not clear, but this case may provide a clue to understanding the etiological pathogenesis of intraneural perineurioma in the future.

Osseous sarcoidosis: a case of evolving MR appearances correlating with clinical symptoms.

Osseous sarcoidosis of the axial skeleton is typically asymptomatic and not routinely imaged with MRI. The natural history of sarcoidosis is generally felt to be resolution spontaneously or with treatment, or unremitting progression. We report a case of recurrent active symptomatic disease after an initial response to immunomodulator treatment with an unusual halo of T2-hyperintensity surrounding treated fibrofatty vestigial lesions.

Perineural spread of cervical cancer to the sciatic nerve.

In this report we present a patient with a recent diagnosis of cervical adenocarcinoma with progressive left lower extremity pain and weakness. MR imaging of the pelvis and subsequent FDG CT/PET were complementary in demonstrating abnormalities worrisome for perineural spread of malignancy, which was confirmed with an open fascicular biopsy of the sciatic nerve. We review the imaging and propose a mechanism of perineural spread to the sciatic nerve, which we believe is supported by the imaging in this case.

An accessory peroneocalcaneus internus muscle with MRI and US correlation.

The peroneocalcaneus internus (PCI) is a rare accessory muscle of the medial ankle with typical MRI anatomic features allowing differentiation from the more common accessory flexor digitorum longus muscle. To our knowledge, there have been no previously published sonographic images of the peroneocalcaneus internus. A PCI is typically an incidental, asymptomatic finding, but knowledge of the entity may avoid confusion when initially encountered by diagnostic ultrasound.

T1-weighted MRI imaging features of pathologically proven non-pedal osteomyelitis.

Rationale And Objectives: The objective of our study was to determine if the T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features associated with diabetic pedal osteomyelitis are present in histopathologically proven cases of non-pedal osteomyelitis.

Materials And Methods: Seventy-five patients with a histopathologically proven diagnosis of non-pedal osteomyelitis and a preoperative MRI were identified between 2000 and 2007. The MRIs were retrospectively reviewed for signal characterization of T1-weighted images, including the signal intensity compared with skeletal muscle, distribution of abnormal signal intensity, and pattern of abnormal signal intensity.