Fibromyxoma of the retropharyngeal space: MR appearance with pathologic correlation

A 19-year-old woman reported difficulties in swallowing and breathing. A submucosal mass, shown by MR imaging in the retropharyngeal space, was the cause of her symptoms. Histologically, the mass proved to be a fibromyxoma. The oval well-delineated lesion appeared hypointense relative to muscle and strongly enhanced after injection of contrast material on T1-weighted images; on T2-weighted images, it appeared hyperintense, and was seen to contain fibrous septa, which were hypointense on all sequences. This case delineates the characteristic MR features of a fibrous component within a rare benign tumor of the retropharyngeal space.