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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.

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