MRI findings in spinal subdural and epidural hematomas

BACKGROUND: Spinal hematomas are rare entities that can be the cause of an acute spinal cord compression syndrome. Therefore, an early diagnosis is of great importance. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 2001 to 2005 seven patients with intense back pain and/or acute progressive neurological deficit were studied via 1.5 T MRI (in axial and sagittal T1- and T2-weighted sequences). Follow-up MRI was obtained in six patients. RESULTS: Four patients showed the MRI features of a hyperacute spinal hematoma (two spinal subdural hematoma [SSH] and two spinal epidural hematoma [SEH]), isointense to the spinal cord on T1- and hyperintense on T2-weighted sequences. One patient had an early subacute SEH manifest as heterogeneous signal intensity with areas of high signal intensity on T1- and T2-weighted images. Another patient had a late subacute SSH with high signal intensity on T1- and T2-weighted sequences. The final patient had a SEH in the late chronic phase being hypointense on T1- and T2-weighted sequences. DISCUSSION: MRI is valuable in diagnosing the presence, location and extent of spinal hematomas. Hyperacute spinal hematoma and the differentiation between SSH and SEH are particular diagnostic challenges. In addition, MRI is an important tool in the follow-up in patients with conservative treatment.     

Spinal epidural haematoma: report of 11 cases and review of the literature

Spinal epidural haematomas (SEH) are rare; most are caused by trauma, anticoagulant therapy, vascular anomalies, hypertension, blood dyscrasias, epidural anaesthesia or, rarely, spinal surgery. We report 11 cases and review the literature (16 cases). The clinical picture is that of acute spinal cord compression. MRI characteristics are quite specific. On sagittal sections, the SEH appears as a biconvex mass, dorsal to the thecal sac, clearly outlined and with tapering superior and inferior margins. The dura mater is seen as curvilinear low signal separating the haematoma from the cord. Within 24 h of onset, the haematoma is isointense with the cord on T1-weighted images and heterogeneous on T2-weighted images. Later, it gives high signal on both T1- and T2-weighted images. Differential diagnosis must include subdural haematoma, epidural neoplasm and abscess. Complete neurological recovery rapidly follows laminectomy and removal of the clot. In three of our cases, the haematoma resolved spontaneously. MRI is the best examination for diagnostic and follow-up.     

Spinal epidural hematoma: relationship between imaging findings and neurological outcomes

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of CT or MR imaging findings in patients with spinal epidural hematoma (SEH) for predicting neurological outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MR images of our six patients with SEH were evaluated retrospectively: complete recovery was achieved in two patients; paresis remained in two patients; and paraplegia remained in two patients. The ratio of the maximum anteroposterior diameter of the SEH to that of the spinal canal was calculated in each patient on midline on axial images in our six patients and 23 previously reported patients. RESULTS: Among our six patients, the ratio was less than 60% in two patients with total recovery, whereas all four patients with remaining motor impairment had ratios of 60% or more. Of 29 cases, 18 of 22 patients without residual motor impairment had ratios of less than 60%, but five of seven patients with residual motor deficits had ratios of 60% or more (p = 0.023). CONCLUSION: The degree of spinal cord compression by hematoma may be a prognostic factor in SEH.     

Chronic spinal subdural haematoma associated with intracranial subdural haematoma: CT and MRI

Chronic spinal subdural haematoma is a uncommon. We describe the CT and MRI appearances of chronic spinal and intracranial subdural haematomas following minor trauma. The aetiology, pathogenesis and differential diagnosis are discussed. Received: 7 January 1998 Accepted: 15 July 1998     

Acute spontaneous spinal epidural haematoma in a child

Spontaneous spinal epidural haematomas rarely occur. Patients tend to be in their sixties or seventies. Acute spontaneous spinal epidural haematomas in children without a predisposition for bleeding disorders, trauma, vascular malformations or anticoagulant therapy have seldom been described. We present a case of a 4-year-old girl with a spontaneous cervical epidural haematoma diagnosed with MR. Received: 20 January 2000; Revised: 18 April 2000; Accepted: 19 April 2000     

Isodense subdural haematomas on CT: MRI findings

Summary MRI findings are described in two patients with subdural haematomas isodense on CT. In one patient, admitted 6 weeks after trauma, a chronic subdural haematoma showed extreme hypointensity on T2-weighted images, suggesting acute trauma, and therefore acute rebleeding. In the second patient with severe anaemia, an acute subdural haematoma was hyperintense on T2-weighted images, suggesting chronic trauma; this may be explained by the low haematocrit and a possible mixture of blood with cerebrospinal fluid. The MRI features of subdural haematomas and hygromas have to be kept in mind, in order not to misjudge the age of the haematoma.     

Non-traumatic spinal extradural haematoma: magnetic resonance findings

Non-traumatic extradural spinal haematoma is an uncommon condition that is usually associated with a poor outcome. It may present acutely with signs and symptoms of major neurological dysfunction secondary to cord compression, or subacutely over a number of days or weeks with fluctuating symptoms. The exact aetiology of this condition is incompletely understood, but it is believed that the blood is venous in origin, as distinct from the arterial origin of intracranial extradural haematomas. Causes of non-traumatic extradural spinal haematoma include anticoagulation, vasculitis such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and spinal arteriovenous malformations. Conditions that may mimic an acute spinal haematoma include extradural abscess and extradural metastatic infiltration. It is important to make a diagnosis of extradural compression because surgery may offer the best hope in restoring neurological function in these patients. Imaging modalities used for the investigation of extradural haematomas include myelography, CT myelography (CTM) and MRI with or without gadolinium enhancement. The MR appearances of acute extradural abscess and extradural tumour can mimic an extradural haematoma. In subacute haematoma, owing to the magnetic properties of blood degradation products, MR is more specific in diagnosing and ageing of the haematoma.     

Evaluation of clinical and MR findings for the prognosis of spinal epidural haematomas

AIM: The potential of MR and clinical findings of spinal epidural haematomas (SEHs), particularly the early MR findings, to help minimize delays in diagnosis, to aid prognosis and as a reference for conservative treatment, are evaluated. METHODS: Retrospectively 20 patients with SEHs (14 men and 6 women) were examined to record their neurological deficit, MR findings, management, clinical outcome, and interval between symptom onset and MRI or surgery. Two-tailed Fisher's exact test was used for these analyses. RESULTS: Of 8 patients with severe neurological deficit at the onset of symptoms, none had obvious clinical improvement after either surgical or conservative management. Of 12 patients with mild to moderate deficits, 11 (92%) showed improvement or recovery of clinical symptoms. T2-weighted images revealed myelopathy or infarction of the compressed spinal cord in 9 patients, 7 (78%) of whom had no improvement in neurological deficit with either conservative or surgical management. Images in 6 patients showed contrast enhancement in the haematomas. CONCLUSION: Poor clinical outcomes were observed mainly in those with severe neurological deficit and hyperintensity on T2-weighted images of the involved spinal cord. Surgery did not appear to improve outcome in many of these patients. In acute SEHs, MRI showed characteristic findings, such as contrast enhancement, which should not be confused with signs of inflammatory or neoplastic epidural disease.     

Emergency magnetic resonance examination of patients with spinal cord symptoms

Eighteen consecutive patients with spinal cord symptoms of sudden or relatively sudden onset were examined with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The examinations were performed on a 0.3 tesla permanent/resistive imaging system using solenoidal surface coils. MRI revealed epidural tumour in five patients, intramedullary tumour in one, epidural abscess in one, myelitis in two, spontaneous intraspinal epidural haematoma in two, disc herniation in two, traumatic lesions in four and no abnormality in one patient. MRI was found to be capable of non-invasively and painlessly detecting and exactly defining the extent of intraspinal and paraspinal lesions. In some cases the nature of the lesion could be inferred from specific signal characteristics, which is a unique property of MRI. The results strongly suggest that MRI is superior to myelography and other imaging methods and should be regarded as the examination of choice in the emergency examination of patients with spinal cord symptoms.     

A characteristic feature of acute haematomas in the brain on echo-planar diffusion-weighted imaging

Diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) is used in the diagnosis of acute ischaemic disease of the brain, but it is not clear whether or not it can be used to differentiate an acute haematoma from an infarct. Our purpose was to identify any characteristic feature of acute haematomas which can be recognised on DWI and to evaluate the usefulness of DWI in acute cerebral stroke. We examined nine patients with acute haemorrhage using CT and MRI including DWI. We measured the volume and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the haematomas. All showed heterogeneous signal on DWI, and the centre of the large (>20 ml) haematomas especially a mixed pattern with high and low signal. The characteristic feature of acute haematomas was a peripheral low-signal region, found in all subjects regardless of the size of the haematoma; acute infarcts did not show this. This low-signal rim on DWI may be useful for differentiating an acute haematoma from an infarct.     

Role of brain perfusion single-photon emission tomography in traumatic head injury

This investigation examined the role of brain perfusion single-photon emission tomography (SPET) in traumatic head injury in 35 patients. The results were compared with those of X-ray computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). CT and MRI detected brain contusions in seven patients, subarachnoid haemorrhage in one patient and both in nine patients. In 16 of the 17 subjects (94%), SPET with technetium-99m-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (Tc-HMPAO) revealed CT/MRI-negative abnormalities, such as hypoperfusion in the contre-coup region, frontal hypoperfusion related to personality change and cerebellar hypoperfusion associated with vertigo. In two patients presenting with diffuse axonal injury in the brainstem, hypoperfusion in the frontal cortex on the affected side was observed on SPET. SPET demonstrated hypoperfusion in the adjacent cortex, with no abnormality on either CT or MRI, in six of seven patients exhibiting acute epidural haematoma. SPET failed to provide additional information in two of five patients with acute subdural haematoma and in one of two patients displaying chronic subdural haematoma. In four of nine patients with post-traumatic amnesia, SPET detected hypoperfusion in the temporal lobe, with no abnormality on either CT or MRI. In five of eight patients with vertigo, SPET detected hypoperfusion in the morphologically normal cerebellum. In seven cases involving personality change, frontal hypoperfusion was observed in four; moreover, a markedly non-homogeneous pattern was evident in the remaining three. Overall, SPET afforded additional information in 26 patients (74%). CT possesses an advantage with respect to the detection of haemorrhagic lesions. MRI provides more precise information regarding contusions and axonal injury. Frequently, SPET may be the only examination to reveal perfusion abnormalities which are related to symptoms in the absence of other objective findings, such as post-traumatic amnesia, vertigo or personality change.     

Chronic encapsulated intracerebral haematomas

We present four patients with uncommon encapsulated intracerebral haematomas (ICH). Because of ring enhancement, three were incorrectly diagnosed as gliomas and operated upon. In one case the diagnosis of chronic ICH was made on MRI. MRI can be used to demonstrate that a lesion is only a haematoma and is valuable in follow-up and in differentiating these haematomas from neoplasms. Angiography may reveal a vascular malformation which may be the reason for repeated bleeding, which may lead to encapsulation. The mechanism, however, remains unclear in most cases.     

High-resolution cranial ultrasound in the shaken-baby syndrome

With limited near-field resolution and accessible acoustic windows, sonography has not been advocated for assessing central nervous system injuries in the shaken-baby syndrome. Our purpose was to correlate high-resolution ultrasonographic characteristics of central nervous system injuries in whiplash injuries and the shaken-baby-syndrome with MRI and CT. Ultrasonographic images of 13 infants, aged 2–12 months, with whiplash or shaking cranial trauma were reviewed and compared with MRI in 10 and CT in 10. Five patients had serial ultrasonography and MRI or CT follow-up from 1 to 4 months after the initial injury. With ultrasonography we identified 20 subdural haematomas. MRI and CT in 15 of these showed that four were hyperechoic in the acute stage, three were mildly echogenic in the subacute stage, and that one subacute and seven chronic lesions were echo-free. Five patients had acute focal or diffuse echogenic cortical oedema which evolved into subacute subcortical hyperechoic haemorrhage in four, and well-defined chronic sonolucent cystic or noncystic encephalomalacia was seen at follow-up in two. Using ultrasonography we were unable to detect two posterior cranial fossa subdural haematomas or subarachnoid haemorrhage in the basal cisterns in three cases, but did show blood in the interhemispheric cistern and convexity sulci in two. Ultrasonography has limitations in demonstrating abnormalities remote from the high cerebral convexities but may be a useful adjunct to CT and MRI in monitoring the progression of central nervous system injuries in infants receiving intensive care. Received: 25 October 2000 Accepted: 25 October 2000     

Post-traumatic spinal hematoma in ankylosing spondylitis

Emergency Radiology - The purpose of this study is to examine the incidence, location, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of spinal epidural hematoma (SEH) and spinal subdural hematoma...     

椎管内血肿的影像学表现

目的探讨椎管内血肿的CT及MRI表现特点,提高椎管内血肿CT及MRI表现的认识。方法回顾分析18例经手术及临床治疗随访复查证实的椎管内血肿的CT及MRI表现。18例患者均常规CT、MR平扫,其中2例MR增强扫描。使用GE公司Lightspeed16CT扫描仪,及Phillip1．5TAcheive超导MR扫描仪,2例MR增强扫描采用钆喷酸葡甲胺（Gd—DTPA）对比剂经静脉团注,注射剂0．1mmol/kg。结果颈胸段3例,胸段5例,胸腰段6例,腰段4例;位于脊髓背侧方14例,脊髓两侧2例、腹侧2例。硬膜外血肿11例,硬膜下血肿6例,硬膜外血肿并蛛网膜下腔内积血1例。CT表现为高密度或等密度,MRI分别呈长T1长T2信号、长T-短Tz信号、等T1短T2信号及短T1长T2信号,其中2例MR增强扫描,1例边缘强化,1例未见强化。结论椎管内血肿的CT、MRI表现具有一定的特征性,对其定性定位诊断及鉴别诊断有着重要的价值。     

Acute spontaneous spinal subdural haematoma: MRI features

We present MRI findings in three patients with acute spontaneous subdural haematomas of the spine. Acute haematomas (1–3 days) were isointense or gave slightly high signal on T1- and heterogeneous signal on T2-weighted images. MRI precisely defined the level and extent of the haematoma preoperatively. The MRI was prospectively correctly interpreted as acute subdural haematomas in all patients. As a specific, noninvasive modality, MRI is the preferred imaging technique in this rare clinical entity. Received: 13 September 1999 Accepted: 17 January 2000     

Computed tomography of a post traumatic spinal arachnoid cyst

Summary A case of post-traumatic arachnoid spinal cyst with haemorrhagic contents is presented. CT findings were indistinguishable from those of epidural or subdural haematomas. The use of CT myelography permits a more accurate diagnosis by localizing the lesion into one of the three spaces. In our case, bleeding into a preexisting arachnoid cyst was thought to occur, but we cannot exclude a newly formed cyst of traumatic origin.     

MRI in the acute phase of spinal cord traumatic lesions: Relationship between MRI findings and neurological outcome

PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of emergency MRI in the diagnosis of acute spinal injuries, and to correlate the MRI pattern with the neurological outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-eight patients with MRI-proven spinal cord injury were classified according to the Frankel classification. MRI was always performed within 8 hours from trauma. Frankel classification divides spinal cord injuries into 5 classes of decreasing severity based on the presence of motor and/or sensory function loss. On the basis of the MRI findings the patients were classified in 3 groups: group 1 (intramedullary haematoma), group 2 (multi-metamer oedema), group 3 (single-metamer oedema). All patients underwent neurosurgery and were clinically evaluated until the stabilization of neurological recovery. Mean follow-up time was 12 months. The MR images were retrospectively evaluated and correlated to the neurological outcome. RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients showed complete motor loss (Frankel classes A and B); of these 28 patients 12 (42.8%) had MRI evidence of intramedullary haematoma, 12 (42.8%) had multi-metamer oedema and 4 (14.4%) had single-metamer oedema. Of the 10 patients with incomplete motor loss, none had MRI evidence of haemorrhage, 4 (40%) showed multi-metamer oedema and 6 (60%) showed single-metamer oedema. Follow-up clinical assessment revealed that 14/38 patients (36,8%) had clinical improvement and 2/38 cases (5%) had a complete motor recovery, as demonstrated by the move to a higher Frankel class. CONCLUSIONS: Our results, consistent with previous reports, confirm a strong correlation between the MRI appearance of traumatic spinal cord injuries in acute phase and long-term recovery of motor and sensory function: patients with initial haemorrhage had a poor prognosis, whereas those with spinal cord oedema had a good clinical outcome, as demonstrated by the passage to a higher Frankel class. MRI is particularly important in the initial evaluation of unconscious patients who cannot undergo a motor and sensory neurological evaluation, and to define the prognosis, which will influence the correct therapeutic choice.     

创伤性颅脑损伤的CT征象与患者伤情及预后的相关性分析

目的探讨创伤性颅脑损伤各种CT征象与患者伤情及预后的相关性,并为其预后评价提供有价值的早期影像学信息。方法回顾性分析2008年1月～2010年11月我院收治的创伤性颅脑损伤患者的伤情及预后情况,收集患者的年龄、性别、入院时格拉斯哥昏迷评分(GCS)、GCS运动评分、血肿的位置及侧别、有无蛛网膜下腔出血、中线结构的偏移及程度、基底池的受压情况、6个月后的格拉斯哥预后评分(GOS)等数据,并进行统计学分析,采用统计描述、Logistic回归等统计方法对数据进行分析,评价各征象与伤情和临床预后的相关性。结果本组95例患者,平均年龄为(50.2±18.7)岁。GCS的中位数是10,43.2%的严重脑外伤患者在复苏后GCS评分≤9。根据入院患者死亡率,老年人明显高于年轻人,为20%∶2%,年龄在住院后死亡和存活患者的组间比较的差异有统计学意义(P=0.006);入院后死亡患者的GCS运动评分为1.4±0.7,入院后存活的患者GCS运动评分为3.9±1.4,两组之间的差异有统计学意义,P=0.001。在CT直接征象上,入院后死亡患者较存活患者有较高比例的硬膜下血肿、双侧血肿、颞叶血肿和蛛网膜下腔出血,通过Logistic回归得出,颞叶血肿在入院死亡和入院存活患者的组间差异有统计学意义,P=0.034。在CT间接征象上,基底池受压和中线结构移位情况在两组之间的差异有统计学意义(P<0.001)。对颅脑损伤患者6个月后的预后情况进行统计学分析,得出在预后较差组有较高比例的双侧血肿、蛛网膜下腔出血、硬膜下血肿和颞叶血肿,颞叶血肿和蛛网膜下腔出血在两组组间比较的差异有统计学意义,分别为P值=0.043,P值=0.027。结论 CT是急性脑外伤后判断颅内有无损伤及损伤程度的首选检查方法,双侧血肿、蛛网膜下腔出血、硬膜下血肿、颞叶血肿对患者入院死亡率和预后情况有重要的提示意义,可为临床治疗和患者后期恢复提供有效的参考依据。     

Contrast enhancement patterns of acute spinal epidural hematomas: a report of two cases

The MR finding of an acute spinal epidural hematoma (SEH) can mimic epidural neoplastic or inflammatory lesions, because acute SEH appears hypointense on T1-weighted images and hyperintense on T2-weighted images. We report on two cases of acute SEH with unusual contrast enhancement patterns on MR images. Contrast enhancement can be an MR finding of acute SEH, especially in bleeding diathesis, which indicates an active lesion that needs early diagnosis and management.