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MR imaging of complex tail-gut cysts
L A Moulopoulos1, E Karvouni, D Kehagias
1Department of Radiology, University of Athens, School of Medicine, Greece.
Clinical Radiology
|March 2, 1999
Summary
Retrorectal-cyst hamartomas (RCH) are rare tail-gut tumors. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) aids in diagnosing RCH and detecting their rare malignant transformation.
Area of Science:
- Radiology
- Oncology
- Pathology
Background:
- Retrorectal-cyst hamartomas (RCH) are rare developmental tail-gut cystic tumors.
- These tumors are located in the retrorectal space and can undergo malignant transformation.
Observation:
- This study describes the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in three patients.
- Two patients had RCH, and one had an unclassified sarcoma arising from an RCH.
Findings:
- RCH appeared hypointense or hyperintense on T1-weighted images and hyperintense on T2-weighted images.
- RCH did not enhance and contained multiple septations; a solid component showed T2 hypointensity.
- The sarcoma enhanced and had intermediate signal intensity on all MRI sequences.
Implications:
- MRI can help diagnose RCH when an unenhanced cystic retrorectal tumor is found.
- MRI may detect rare instances of malignant transformation in these developmental tumors.