Sustained tumour opacification in infants during cerebral angiography

Total body opacification in infants following the intravenous injection of a large dose of water soluble contrast medium has long been recognised, but no example of increased radiodensity of abdominal or intracranial tumours has been reported using this technique. This paper reports the sustained opacification of intracranial tumours in three infants during cerebral angiography. Two of the tumours were papillomas of the choroid plexus of the lateral ventricle and the third a medulloblastoma of the fourth ventricle. Three possible explanations of this phenomenon are briefly considered: 1. That the amount of contrast medium was sufficient to cause total body opacification and the visibility of the tumours was due to a combination of their vascularity and the iodine concentration in the circulation blood. 2. That the observed phenomenon is peculiar to these tumours. 3. That the sustained opacity of these these tumours is due to the same cause or causes as the density enhancement of some intracranial tumours demonstrated by computerised tomography after intravenous injection of contrast medium.