Magnetic resonance imaging of spinal cord hemangioblastoma

We retrospectively reviewed the magnetic resonance (MR) studies in nine patients with spinal cord hemangioblastoma. Five patients were studied with a low field magnet (0.35 T/0.5 T) and four with a high field magnet (1.5 T). Six tumors were thoracic and three cervical in location. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was positive in all the nine patients. MRI permitted a specific diagnosis prior to angiographic evaluation of the cord in three patients. The most characteristic findings in such tumors were: an intramedullary vascular nodule, enlarged drainage vessels, diffuse enlargement of the cord, and/or intramedullary cyst. The high field magnet showed a greater sensitivity in detecting vascularity within the nodule and draining vessels than did the low field magnet. MRI should be the first procedure in patients with myelopathy and subarachnoid bleed of spinal origin and for screening patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease.