The objective of this study was to determine the utility of CT scan findings for the diagnosis of chest wall tuberculosis, excluding the spine. We reviewed 15 patients (13 Africans and 2 Indians) with chest wall tuberculosis, retrospectively. The radiologic examination consisted of a plain X-ray and a CT scan of the chest for each patient. The site of disease was the rib in 13 patients or the body of the sternum in 2 patients. One rib was involved in 11 patients, 2 contiguous ribs (one site) in 2 patients, and bilateral disease (two sites) was observed in the remaining patient. The 14 rib sites involved the posterior arc or costovertebral joint in 11 cases, the anterior arc in 2 cases, and the anterior and middle arc in 1 case. The CT scan findings were an abscess (n = 14) or a soft tissue mass (n = 2), osteolytic lesions (n = 13), periosteal reaction (n = 10), and sequestrum (n = 14). Bone sclerosis was observed only in 3 cases of rib involvement. The association of a soft tissue abscess, an osteolytic lesion, and sequestrum, especially in immigrants to France, suggests chest wall tuberculosis on CT scan.

The purpose of this study was to describe magnetic resonance findings of intradural spinal canal secondaries and to select the best way of investigating this condition. Thirty patients with a known malignancy [breast carcinoma (n = 14), lung carcinoma (n = 10), other sites (n = 6)] and unexplained neurologic signs were studied with pre- and post-contrast T1-weighted images and T2-weighted images. Cerebrospinal fluid cytology was available in 16 patients and positive in 11 patients. In all the patients, post-contrast T1-weighted images demonstrated abnormal enhanced lesions. Most of them were nodular, located on the conus medullaris and the cauda equina. Few lesions appeared at the thoracic or cervical levels, as nodular or thin areas of enhancement. Pre-contrast T1-weighted sequences failed or were equivocal to detect the lesions. Eighteen of 30 patients had cerebral metastases. Fourteen had osseous metastases. In conclusion, post-contrast T1-weighted sequence is the optimal modality for the diagnostic of intradural spinal canal metastases. Axial and coronal images may be a useful adjunct to precise anatomic changes. T1-weighted and T2-weighted sequences remain necessary when further information is expected on vertebra or soft tissue.

Intramuscular hypoechoic well-defined nodules in young patients or patients with a history of sarcoidosis suggest the diagnosis of intramuscular sarcoid. MRI is useful in detecting muscle sarcoid, evaluating the extent and distribution of muscle involvement, and monitoring the patient during follow-up after steroid therapy. MRI showed nodules that were iso- or hyperintense relative to muscle on T1-weighted sequences. On T2-weighted images and STIR sequences, we observed numerous intramuscular nodules of homogeneous high signal intensity. All nodules enhanced homogeneously on contrast-enhanced T1-weighted sequences. Disappearance of all nodules was seen on follow-up sonograms and MR images after patients had received steroid therapy.

We report a case of proliferative myositis in the right biceps of a 56-year-old man with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Imaging methods included sonography, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. The diagnosis was made by a core-cut biopsy and fine needle aspiration biopsy with immunohistochemical analysis. The lesion disappeared after 2 months without treatment. It is particularly important to determine whether intramuscular masses arising in patients with AIDS are due to an infectious or malignant process.

We describe a case of digital glomus tumor diagnosed by MRI and three-dimensional contrast MR angiography (MRA). Images provided the formal definitive diagnosis and the precise localization of the tumor, guiding the necessary surgical resection. It is possible that noninvasive MRA could replace conventional arteriography for the evaluation of patients with clinical suspicion of glomus tumor.

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A 35-year-old man with a long history of left L5 radicular pain was found to have an intraspinal cystic lesion causing radicular compression. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a round lesion situated in the anterior epidural space, with uniform high signal intensity on T2-weighted sequences characteristic of a cystic lesion. During surgery a liquid-containing cyst originating from the posterior longitudinal ligament was punctured and resected. The histologic aspect was that of a ganglion cyst without synovial layers. The radiologic differential diagnoses are discussed.