The pterygopalatine fossa (PPF) is a small, clinically inaccessible, fat-filled space located in the deep face that serves as a major neurovascular crossroad between the oral cavity, nasal cavity, nasopharynx, orbit, masticator space, and the middle cranial fossa. Due to its inherent complex location and connections, it can potentially act as a natural conduit for the spread of inflammatory and neoplastic diseases across the various deep spaces in the head and neck. This review aims to acquaint the reader with the imaging anatomy of the PPF, its important communications, and to identify some major pathological conditions that can involve the PPF, especially in conditions where its involvement can have serious diagnostic and therapeutic implications, such as in perineural tumour spread.Teaching points• The PPF is a small neurovascular junction in the deep face with important to-and-fro connections.• Awareness of anatomy of the PPF and its communications helps to simplify imaging of its pathology.• Perineural tumour spread is clinically the most important pathology in this region.

With astonishing speed, COVID-19 has become a global pandemic. As it is uncertain when the pandemic will be controlled, it is crucial for procedurists of all stripes to be familiar and confident in performing procedures for COVID-19 patients to prevent intra-hospital infection. In this article, we will detail our approach on how to perform interventional procedures for COVID-19 patients at the bedside in the isolation room and with the patient transferred to the interventional radiology centre. These workflows have been developed in conjunction with multiple other stakeholders within our hospital, drawing from valuable lessons we have learnt from the SARS outbreak of 2003.

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Patient: Female, 35-year-old Final Diagnosis: Round ligament varices Symptoms: Painless right inguinal lump during second trimester of gestation Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Obstetrics and Gynecology • Radiology • Surgery Objective: Rare disease Background: Round ligament varices (RLVs) are a rare entity that occurs almost only in pregnancy. Given its rarity and perhaps the lack of its awareness, it is not surprising that RLVs are often an overlooked differential diagnosis for inguinal swelling. Furthermore, this is aggravated by the fact that the clinical findings of RLVs on physical examination are usually non-specific and indistinguishable from the other more common causes of groin swelling. Case Report: A 35-year-old Asian woman, gravidity 1 parity 0 presented at 26 weeks of gestation with a painless right inguinal lump. She was given a provisional diagnosis of “inguinal hernia.” Ultrasonography and color Doppler of the right inguinal lump showed echo-free tubular structures within the right inguinal canal, which became more prominent with Valsalva maneuver and demonstrated vascularity on color Doppler with a venous flow pattern, compatible with RLV. The patient was therefore reassured and treated conservatively. The symptoms spontaneously resolved after a few weeks postpartum. Conclusions: With this case, we hope to increase the awareness of round ligament varices as an important differential diagnosis for an inguinal lump in pregnancy, and highlight the potential difficulty in making the diagnosis clinically. Ultrasonography can serve as a crucial investigation for the prompt and precise diagnosis of RLV, but more importantly, can be a safer alternative to invasive surgical exploration.