Delayed post-traumatic fronto-ethmoidal sinus mucocele evaluated with short and long TE MR spectroscopy

Mucoceles are slow-growing, benign, expansile, mucoid-filled masses developing after obstruction of the sinus ostium. Late post-traumatic mucoceles are relatively rare entities and the literature is limited to single case reports. We describe an unusual case of post-traumatic fronto-ethmoidal mucocele, evaluated with computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and proton MR-spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS). As a contribution to the diagnostic work-up of the mucocele, (1)H-MRS demonstrates a dominant peak at 2.0 ppm at long echo time (TE) and an additional component at 3.8 ppm at short TE due to mucus glycoprotein compounds of the mucocele.