Cryptic vascular malformations involving the brainstem

Six patients with angiographically cryptic vascular malformations involving the brainstem were examined with computed tomography (CT). The clinical and CT findings of cryptic vascular malformations of the brainstem are described and distinguished from those of brainstem glioma and multiple sclerosis. Calcification within a brainstem lesion that displays relatively little mass effect and shows little contrast enhancement, particularly when associated with a long history of waxing and waning brainstem symptoms, should suggest a vascular malformation.