Magnetic resonance imaging of traumatic sinus and mastoid bleeding

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characterized intrasinus hemorrhage in 8 out of 10 patients with computed tomography (CT) evidence of post-traumatic sinus opacification. Fractures of sinus walls were demonstrated as disruptions in the hypointense line of the bony wall, as displacement of this line, or by increased signal from blood or sinus effusion within the fracture. Seven patients with fractures of the temporal bone were more difficult to evaluate because of the hypointensity of air trapped within the fracture line mimicing the bony wall and that within the middle ear mimicing the ossicles; 1.5 tesla MR proved superior to CT in demonstrating associated extra- and intracerebral hemorrhage.