Clinical Examination. This 32-year-old previously healthy right-handed man was admitted to our hospital because of a headache that had occurred suddenly. He had no stroke risk factor. Initially, he presented with increasing intensity of headache and vomiting. His initial Glasgow Coma Scale score was 14. Results of the remainder of a general physical examination were unremarkable. Several hours after admission, the patient’s headaches worsened and he suffered several more bouts of emesis. His level of consciousness deteriorated rapidly and he was intubated (Glasgow Coma Scale score 7 of 15). Radiological Findings. The initial unenhanced CT scan exhibited a spontaneous curvilinear and tubular hyperdensity located on the left middle cerebellar peduncle in the vicinity of the fourth ventricle, which later proved to be the thrombus in the venous angioma collector (Fig. 1 left and center). There was no mass effect. After the patient’s condition worsened, another CT scan revealed acute obstructive hydrocephalus (Fig. 1 right). An MR image of the brain demonstrated an extensive ischemic lesion located on the pons, the mesencephalus, the cerebellum culmen, and the middle and superior left cerebellar peduncles (Fig. 2). There was no coexisting cavernous angioma. In addition, MR imaging studies clearly revealed the typical “caput medusae” appearance of the left cerebellum venous angioma (Fig. 3). Results of cerebral angiography on Day 2 postadmission were normal. Laboratory Studies. Antithrombin III, protein C, and protein S levels were normal. There was no activated protein C resistance or factor V Leiden mutation. Antiphospholipid antibodies were not detected. Results of the other routine laboratory tests were also normal. FIG. 1. Left and Center: Unenhanced CT scans obtained at the level of the pons, demonstrating a tubular, high-density structure corresponding to the clot in the draining vein of the venous angioma. This malformation was located deep in the left middle cerebellar peduncle in the vicinity of the fourth ventricle. Right: Unenhanced CT scan obtained after the patient’s condition had worsened, revealing a secondary obstructive hydrocephalus.
FIG. 2. Axial T2-weighted MR images at the level of the pons exhibiting a high signal intensity corresponding to the nonhemorrhagic subcortical infarction of the vermis and left cerebellum. The tubular hypointensity and round shape correspond to the clot in the draining vein (arrows).
FIG. 3. Axial three-dimensional spoiled gradient–recalled acquisition MR sequence revealing the venous angioma with its typical caput medusae appearance resulting from the convergence of small veins (arrowheads) on a large, thrombosed draining vein.
FIG. 4. Axial T2-weighted MR images obtained at 1 month postadmission, demonstrating partial resolution of the cerebellar infarct and an area of high signal intensity related to an old clot in the draining vein (arrows).
FIG. 5. Drawing of parasagittal section showing the location of the patient’s venous angioma with its drainage vein (dv) and collector trunk (ct). Other main veins of the posterior fossa that could drain possible venous angiomas are also marked. Amv = anterior medullary vein; apmv = anterior pontomesencephalic vein; irtv = inferior retrotonsillar vein; ivv = inferior vermian vein; lbv = lateral brachial vein; pcev = precentral vein; pcuv = preculminate vein; psv = posterior spinal vein; pv = petrosal vein; srtv = superior retrotonsillar vein; svv = superior vermian vein; tpv = transverse pontine vein; vlr = vein of lateral recess of fourth ventricle.
好帖,精彩。 來一個(gè)更加精彩的,CT診斷靜脈畸形。 Fig. 1. a., b. Brain CT without IV contrast administration showing hyperdense hematoma (large arrow) in the left high frontal lobe, interspersed with multiple small punctate-like calcifications (small arrows). Moderate-degree perifocal edema can also be noted (arrowheads). c., d. Post-contrast CT at the same anatomic levels showing abnormal contrast-opacified vasculature (large arrowheads).
Fig. 2. Left common carotid digital subtraction cerebral angiograms: A-C (frontal projection, in early arterial, late arterial, and venous phases, respectively), D-F (lateral projection, in early arterial, late arterial, and venous phases, respectively) showing the paradoxical dilated left ACA and MCA (small black arrows), the nidus of AVM (large black arrows), the draining vein of AVM (large white arrows, the descending limb; long thin white arrows, the ascending limb), the umbrella-like venous malformation and its stem vein (large white arrowheads), the engorged cortical draining vein (small white arrows), and the deep draining vein of the venous malformation (small white arrowheads) which drains to the internal cerebral vein (black arrowheads). It is worth noting that in the frontal projection, the ascending limb of the draining vein of the AVM was superimposed over the stem vein of the venous malformation (hollow arrow).
Picture 1. Brain, venous vascular malformation. Coronal T1-weighted contrast-enhanced image obtained in a patient who had undergone surgery in the past for an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) shows bilateral developmental venous anomalies (DVAs) and the classic caput medusa appearance. Note the signal intensity abnormality in the inferior right cerebellar hemisphere due to the prior surgery.
Picture 2. Brain, venous vascular malformation. Coronal T1-weighted contrast-enhanced image clearly shows the draining vein and associated venous network of a developmental venous anomaly (DVA).
Picture 3. Brain, venous vascular malformation. Axial proton density–weighted image in the same patient as image 2 demonstrates the high signal intensity of the draining vein, which is typical on images obtained with this sequence. Note the yin-yang appearance of the vessel with an area of decreased signal intensity adjacent to the area with increased signal intensity
Picture 4. Brain, venous vascular malformation. Axial proton density–weighted image in the same patient as Image 2 and Image 3 shows an area of marked signal intensity loss in the right cerebellum adjacent to the developmental venous anomaly (DVA). This finding is consistent with a coexistent cavernous angioma.
Picture 5. Brain, venous vascular malformation. Coronal T1 postcontrast demonstrates a typical location for a DVA, here within the periventricular white matter. This malformation drained into a cortical vein along the parietal convexity.
Picture 6. Brain, venous vascular malformation. Axial postcontrast image from the same patient as in Image 5 demonstrates the fine network of feeder veins that converge into the single draining vein.
Picture 7. Brain, venous vascular malformation. Axial T2 image from same patient as Images 5 and 6 shows that the DVA can be subtle. In this patient, the draining vein is large enough to have a flow void on the image. The parenchymal abnormality is typically not visible.
Picture 8. Brain, venous vascular malformation. Axial fluid-attenuated inversion recovery shows some artifactual increased signal within the vessel, which can aid in detection of DVAs on noncontrasted studies.
Picture 9. Brain, venous vascular malformation. On fast low-angle shot images, both the venous cluster and the draining vein may have mild susceptibility artifact (although not as much as hemosiderin) secondary to the deoxyhemoglobin within the slow-flowing veins (arrows).
Picture 10. Brain, venous vascular malformation. Axial T1 postcontrast demonstrates a large DVA originating from the frontal lobe white matter. Note the cluster of small vessels that form the large draining vein.
Picture 11. Brain, venous vascular malformation. Slightly higher image in the same patient as Image 10. The large draining vein is noted to drain into the superior sagittal sinus