Articles
Articles are a collaborative effort to provide a single canonical page on all topics relevant to the practice of radiology. As such, articles are written and edited by countless contributing members over a period of time. A global group of dedicated editors oversee accuracy, consulting with expert advisers, and constantly reviewing additions.
717 results found
Article
Submandibular gland enlargement
Submandibular gland enlargement refers to an increase in the volume of the submandibular gland, exceeding "normal" values of 7.4 ± 1.8 mL 1.
Pathology
Causes
Obstruction
sialolithiasis
submandibular duct stenosis (e.g. tumor, granulomatous disease)
Infection
acute sialadenitis: following ...
Article
Finger pathology
Finger pathology is wide and includes all lesions involving the tendons, ligaments, muscles, bone, and articulations of the hand and foot digits.
Congenital
brachydactyly - short digits
arachnodactyly - elongated, thin "spider-like" digits 1
polydactyly (hyperdactyly) - supernumerary digits
...
Article
Hypovascular retroperitoneal lesions
Hypovascular retroperitoneal lesions are those which do not enhance in the late arterial and portal venous phases on CT. Some of these lesions may show progressive enhancement in the delayed phase due to their fibrous or myxoid matrix components.
Non-enhancing lesions
retroperitoneal lipoma
r...
Article
Hypervascular retroperitoneal lesions
Hypervascular retroperitoneal lesions are findings that enhance avidly in the late arterial phase with or without washout in the portal venous and delayed phases, on contrast-enhanced CT or MRI.
Early enhancement with slow washout
sympathetic paragangliomas
retroperitoneal paragangliomas - of...
Article
Inferior vena caval contrast reflux
Reflux of contrast into inferior vena cava can be common findings seen on CT. It is considered a specific but insensitive sign of right-sided heart disease / right heart dysfunction at low contrast injection rates although the usefulness decreases with high injection rates.
Conditions associate...
Article
Penile calcification
Penile calcifications are a relatively rare finding. The commonest cause is Peyronie disease.
Pathology
Etiology
Peyronie disease
penile calciphylaxis (considered by some to be a form of calcinosis cutis)
penile urethral calculus
calcinosis cutis of the penis
idiopathic calcinosis cutis o...
Article
Symmetrical cerebral T2 hyperintensities
Symmetrical cerebral T2/FLAIR hyperintensities are seen in a broad range of pathologies. The differential depends essentially on the location of the lesions.
Symmetrical corticospinal tract lesions
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
symmetrical T2/FLAIR hyperintensities along the corticospinal tra...
Article
Cerebellar restricted diffusion
Cerebellar restricted diffusion refers to a hyperintense signal involving the cerebellum on DWI images with a corresponding low signal on ADC images.
Vascular thrombo-occlusive disease
cerebellar arterial infarction 1
AICA infarction
PICA infarction
superior cerebellar arterial infarct
ce...
Article
Fluid-fluid levels in liver lesions
Fluid-fluid levels in liver lesions are a rare appearance of both benign and malignant conditions.
Differential diagnosis
benign
complicated hepatic cyst 2
hepatic abscess 2
chronic hepatic hematoma 3
biliary cystadenoma 3
hepatic hemangioma (very rare) 2
malignant
cystic/necrotic hepat...
Article
Uterine restricted diffusion
Uterine restricted diffusion refers to a hyperintense signal involving the endometrium, myometrium, or cervix on DWI images with a corresponding low signal on ADC images, with a mean cut-off ADC value for malignancy of 1.15 x 10-3 mm2/s 7.
Endometrial restricted diffusion
malignant endometrial...
Article
Hypervascular splenic lesions
Hypervascular splenic lesions are findings that enhance more or similarly to the background splenic parenchyma on late arterial phase, on contrast-enhanced CT or MRI.
Vascular
mycotic aneurysm
Neoplastic
splenic hemangioma 2
most common primary benign neoplasm of the spleen
second most com...
Article
Differential diagnosis for PV bleeding (non-pregnant patients)
Per vaginal (PV) bleeding in a non-pregnant patient is a common clinical presentation with a multitude of causes.
The potential causes vary with the patient's menstrual status. A well-known mnemonic is found here.
Premenopausal
fibroids
cervical cancer
adenomyosis
endometriosis
polycystic...
Article
Periportal lymphadenopathy (differential)
Periportal lymphadenopathy can be a common observation during imaging of the upper abdomen. What is considered the exact upper limit of normal has been variable 1,3 among different publications but with many authors suggesting a cut-off of around 10 mm in short axis diameter.
Pathology
Etiolog...
Article
Optic nerve calcification
Optic nerve calcification is a rare radiological finding, with only a short differential diagnosis, many of which have only been described in isolated case reports 1-4.
Differential diagnosis
optic nerve meningioma
optic nerve head drusen
idiopathic dural optic nerve sheath calcification
ca...
Article
Diffuse bone marrow infiltration on MRI (mnemonic)
A mnemonic to remember differentials causing diffuse bone marrow infiltration on MRI. Diffuse bone marrow infiltration is best evaluated on T1 sequences and maybe focal or diffuse. Focal infiltration is seen in metastases and lymphoma. Diffuse pattern is seen more commonly in multiple myeloma, m...
Article
Spinal epidural cystic lesions
Spinal epidural cystic lesions are fluid-filled lesions within the spinal canal but outside the thecal sac. Their clinical significance is as a potential contributor to spinal cord or nerve root impingement. Simple appearing spinal epidural cysts may represent several entities that differ by ori...
Article
Hypervascular pancreatic lesions
Hypervascular pancreatic lesions are findings that enhance more or similarly to the background pancreatic parenchyma in the late arterial phase, on contrast-enhanced CT or MRI.
Anatomical variants
intrapancreatic accessory spleen: should not be overdiagnosed as a malignant tumor
Vascular ano...
Article
Intrapancreatic gas
The presence of gas in the pancreatic gland and/or the pancreatic ducts is an uncommon finding.
Pathology
Etiology
Causes of gas in the pancreatic ducts
altered function and/or anatomy of the sphincter of Oddi: causes duodenal-pancreatic duct reflux
patulous pancreatic duct opening 2
papi...
Article
Renal emphysema
Renal emphysema, or intrarenal gas, refers to the presence of gas within the kidney, with or without extension to the urinary tract.
It is a rare finding and only a few differentials need to be considered 1:
infections
emphysematous pyelonephritis 1
iatrogenic
instrumentation
biopsy
surge...
Article
Intraosseous gas
Intraosseous gas, also known as osseous pneumatosis, refers to the accumulation of gas bubbles within the cortical bone, trabecular bone, the bone marrow, or in the medullary cavity.
Intraosseous gas is an uncommon finding and differentials include 1,2:
infections
emphysematous osteomyelitis...
Article
Leave alone lesions - maxillodental
Maxillodental leave alone lesions are usually incidental findings that do not require treatment nor follow-up if the patient is asymptomatic.
This article includes findings from orthopantomogram, cone-beam CT, and sinus CT studies.
Do not touch:
benign lesions
tooth ankylosis
hypercementosi...
Article
Leave alone lesions - skull base
Leave alone lesions of the skull base refers to incidental findings that do not require treatment nor follow-up.
This article includes findings from brain CT, HRCT of the temporal bone, and MRI studies.
Do not touch:
arrested pneumatization of the skull base - sphenoid benign fatty lesion 1
...
Article
Leave alone lesions - paranasal sinuses
Leave alone lesions are findings that are usually discovered incidentally and do not require any specific treatment or follow-up if the patient is asymptomatic.
This article includes findings from paranasal sinus CT and MRI studies.
physiological process
nasal cycle
anatomical variants
conc...
Article
Bilateral temporal lobe T2 hyperintensity
Bilateral temporal lobe T2 hyperintensity refers to hyperintense signal involving the temporal lobes on T2 weighted and FLAIR imaging. It is a common finding on brain MRI and a wide range of differentials should be considered 1.
Causes include:
neurodegenerative disease
frontotemporal dementi...
Article
Cerebral cortical calcification
Cerebral cortical calcification or gyral calcification refers to curvilinear calcifications involving the cerebral cortex.
Causes include:
vascular
ischemic stroke sequelae
arteriovenous malformation
TORCH infection
congenital cerebral toxoplasmosis
congenital cytomegalovirus infection
p...
Article
Cerebral cortical T1 hyperintensity
Cerebral cortical T1 hyperintensity or gyriform T1 hyperintensity refers to curvilinear hyperintense signal involving the cerebral cortex on T1-weighted images on brain MRI.
Causes include:
accumulation of denatured proteins and/or lipid-laden macrophages
cortical laminar necrosis 2
accumula...
Article
Cerebral cortical T2 hyperintensity
Cerebral cortical T2 hyperintensity or gyriform T2 hyperintensity refers to curvilinear hyperintense signal involving the cerebral cortex on T2 weighted and FLAIR imaging.
The causes include:
developmental anomalies
focal cortical dysplasia
neoplastic
glioblastoma1
vascular thrombo-occlusi...
Article
Cerebral cortical restricted diffusion
Cerebral cortical restricted diffusion or gyriform restricted diffusion refers to curvilinear hyperintense signal involving the cerebral cortex on DWI images with a corresponding low signal on ADC images.
Causes include:
Vascular thrombo-occlusive disease (most common) 1
ischemic stroke
cort...
Article
Bilateral pleural effusion
Bilateral pleural effusions can be common in general radiology practice. They may be symmetrical or asymmetrical. They can occur from several varied etiologies although congestive heart failure (CHF), renal or liver failure are generally considered common 1.
Recognized list of causes are many...
Article
Cirrhotic liver nodules - differential
Differential diagnoses of cirrhotic liver nodules include regenerative liver nodules, dysplastic liver nodules, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), all represent a spectrum of diseases ranging from non-neoplastic reparative process (regenerative) to nuclear atypia (dysplastic) to typical neoplas...
Article
Epiglottic enlargement
Epiglottic enlargement is often seen on lateral neck radiographs and it's accepted to confirm clinical suspicion of acute epiglottitis only on this finding 1. However, an enlarged epiglottitis has a wide range of differentials that should be considered.
neoplasm
hemangioma
lymphangioma
carci...
Article
Ureteral calcification
Ureteral calcification refers to the presence of calcium concretions within the ureteral lumen or wall.
Common
ureteric calculi
Uncommon
neoplastic 3
transitional cell carcinoma
hemangioma
papilloma
infections
tuberculosis 1
schistosomiasis of the urinary tract
iatrogenic
radiation u...
Article
Fat containing brain lesions
Intracranial fat is uncommon and a wide range of differentials should be considered.
Neoplastic
intracranial dermoid cyst
intracranial teratoma
intracranial lipoma
pericallosal lipoma
quadrigeminal cistern lipoma
suprasellar cistern lipoma
cerebellopontine angle lipoma
choroid plexus li...
Article
Optic canal enlargement
Optic canal enlargement can be caused by numerous etiologies.
Pathology
The optic canal has an average transverse diameter of 3.6 ± 0.6 mm 1. The optic canal can be considered enlarged when it is >6.5 mm in transverse diameter 4.
Etiology
glioma of optic nerve
meningioma of optic nerve shea...
Article
Hemithoracic volume loss (differential)
Hemithoracic volume loss can occur from a number of situations. These include:
Congenital
pulmonary hypoplasia (unilateral)
isolated unilateral pulmonary artery agenesis
skeletal deformities - e.g. kyphosis,
Acquired
Infection in childhood
Swyer-James syndrome
Other infective/inflamma...
Article
Mass-forming chronic pancreatitis
Mass-forming chronic pancreatitis occurs in around 30% of cases of chronic pancreatitis, where a mass or a focal enlargement of the pancreas is usually seen on imaging. In many instances, it poses a challenge as the epidemiology and imaging appearances overlap those of pancreatic adenocarcinoma....
Article
Coal mine dust lung disease
Coal mine dust lung disease encompasses a number of occupational lung diseases 1,2:
coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP)
mixed dust pneumoconiosis
silicosis
dust-related diffuse fibrosis
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Article
Giant cell carcinoma of the lung
Giant cell carcinomas of the lung are a rare type of non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) classified under sarcomatoid carcinomas of the lungs.
Epidemiology
They represent less than 0.5% of all NSCLC 2. There is a recognized association with smoking 1.
Clinical presentation
Symptoms are n...
Article
Bronchial stenosis
Bronchial stenosis, or bronchial strictures, are descriptive terms to denote regions of focal narrowing involving the bronchi. They can arise from a wide variety of etiologies.
Pathology
Etiology
It can arise from a large range of etiological factors, which include:
tracheobronchial malignan...
Article
Duodenal stricture
A duodenal stricture refers to a segment of narrowing involving the duodenum. They can occur from a range of benign infective - inflammatory to malignant etiology. They can contribute to gastric outlet obstruction.
Pathology
Etiology
infective/inflammatory
duodenitis
regional inflammation:...
Article
Isolated diffuse ground-glass opacification
Isolated diffuse ground-glass opacification/opacity (GGO) has a relatively well-defined differential diagnosis although this remains broad and clinical correlation, like many respiratory diseases, is key to diagnosis.
Differential diagnosis
Miller et al. have described the following different...
Article
Traversal of lung fissures
Only a small number of pulmonary diseases are known to directly traverse the lung fissures such that the lung pathology extends from one lobe via the interlobar fissure into an adjacent lobe 1. The finding is most commonly due to primary malignancy, however, some infections are also known to do ...
Article
Vacuum phenomenon
Vacuum phenomena describe aseptic gas collections (e.g. nitrogen and traces of oxygen and or carbon dioxide) within different specific tissues 1-3. Usually, they are seen within the intervertebral discs, the bones and within different joints, but can also be seen in other usually adjacent locati...
Article
Cavernous sinus gas
Cavernous sinus gas locules can be seen in several settings.
iatrogenic pneumocephalus secondary to gas embolism (especially venous gas embolism) from IV access (can be a relatively common finding in the absence of direct trauma and does not require treatment).
traumatic pneumocephalus: in the...
Article
Disconnected pancreatic duct syndrome
Disconnected pancreatic duct syndrome, also referred only as disconnected pancreatic duct, refers to the symptoms and complications due to the complete discontinuity of the main pancreatic duct between segments of viable secreting pancreatic tissue and the duodenum, usually seen as a sequela of ...
Article
High-risk pregnancy
High-risk pregnancies are any that actually or potentially threaten either the health or life of the mother or her fetus during pregnancy, labor, or birth. From a radiological perspective, high-risk pregnancies may undergo further screening or have close follow-up with growth and well-being scan...
Article
Abnormal testicular Doppler flow (differential)
Abnormal testicular Doppler flow (arterial, venous, or both) can be a differential challenge. Always remember that the patient's presenting history helps quite a bit in narrowing the differential.
Reduced flow
partial testicular torsion (<360 degrees)
venous outflow is obstructed first, resul...
Article
Esophageal wall thickening
Esophageal wall thickening can be observed in a number of situations and can be either focal or diffuse. It may be physiological, and can also be due to benign or malignant disorders.
Pathology
Causes
diffuse
diffuse esophageal spasm
forms of esophagitis
diffuse esophageal intramural hemat...
Article
Hyperattenuating pulmonary consolidation
Hyperattenuating pulmonary consolidation refers to a region of lung parenchyma with air space opacification that has higher attenuation on CT than muscle or than expected with typical causes of consolidation such as pneumonia (fluid attenuation) or cancer (soft tissue attenuation).
The differen...
Article
Gyral enhancement
Gyral enhancement, also known as gyriform, cortical, or grey matter enhancement, is a pattern of contrast enhancement in the superficial brain parenchyma that conforms to the serpentine morphology of the cerebral gyri. It should be distinguished from leptomeningeal enhancement, which is also ser...
Article
Diffuse airway narrowing
Diffuse airway narrowing can occur from a number of pathologies; these include:
relapsing polychondritis
ulcerative colitis
amyloidosis: tracheobronchial
sarcoidosis
granulomatosis with polyangiitis
tracheopathia osteochondroplastica
various infections including
tracheobronchial papillom...
Article
Intrahepatic arteriovenous shunt
Intrahepatic arteriovenous shunts, also referred to as intrahepatic arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) or hepatic arteriosystemic venous shunts, represent a spectrum of abnormal communications between the hepatic arterial system and the hepatic veins.
Please note that arterioportal shunts, whi...
Article
Non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema
Non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema is a classification of pulmonary edema where the underlying etiology is not due to left ventricular dysfunction. Causes include:
fluid overload
pulmonary edema with acute asthma
post-obstructive pulmonary edema/postintubation pulmonary edema/negative pressure ...
Article
Retrorectal developmental cysts
Retrorectal developmental cysts are rare and mostly congenital benign lesions found in the retrorectal space:
spectrum of cystic teratomas
retrorectal epidermoid cyst
retrorectal dermoid cyst
retrorectal teratoid cyst
enteric cysts
duplication cyst of the rectum
tailgut duplication cyst
...
Article
Sports injuries: snowsports
Snowsport injuries cover a broad range of activities from skiing and snowboarding to recreational play (e.g. tobogganing, tubing).
Epidemiology
Snowsports are popular with over 70 million people globally participating each year 1. While the injury rate varies depending on location, a rough ave...
Article
Periapical radiolucency (teeth)
Periapical radiolucencies are commonly observed findings on OPG and other dental/head and neck imaging modalities.
Differential diagnosis
They can represent a number of pathologies:
periapical lucency related to apical periodontitis
periapical granuloma
periapical abscess
periapical cyst
...
Article
Calcific cervical lymphadenopathy (differential)
Calcific cervical lymphadenopathy is uncommon and has a limited differential diagnosis, including malignant and benign etiologies. The most frequent causes include 1:
malignancies (more common)
metastatic thyroid carcinoma (most common; papillary or medullary types) 2,5
metastatic adenocarcin...
Article
Sclerosing cholangitis
There are three forms of sclerosing cholangitis:
primary sclerosing cholangitis
IgG4-related sclerosing cholangitis
secondary sclerosing cholangitis
Article
Lacrimal sac mass
Lacrimal sac masses are very uncommon and more commonly have a malignant (~80%) rather than benign (~20%) etiology.
Pathology
Etiology
inflammatory
granulomatosis with polyangiitis
sarcoidosis
orbital pseudotumor
IgG4-related disease
Sjogren syndrome
neoplastic
epithelial tumors
beni...
Article
Fat containing cardiac lesions
Fat containing cardiac lesions have a limited differential diagnosis. These include 1-4:
normal aging/physiologic: mostly subepicardial, more in the right ventricle (especially right ventricular outflow tract) than left ventricle
lipomatous hypertrophy of the interatrial septum
chronic myocar...
Article
Intra-articular gas
Intra-articular gas or air (pneumarthrosis) can occur from a number of varied pathologies and should be interpreted according to the clinical context.
Causes include
trauma
compound injury with gas entering from the outer surface
can occur with a pneumolipohaemarthrosis
surgical intra-arti...
Article
Hepatosplenomegaly
Hepatosplenomegaly is simply the simultaneous presence of a pathologically-enlarged liver (hepatomegaly) and spleen (splenomegaly).
Pathology
Etiology
Infection
Many, many infections can produce a mild concurrent enlargement of the liver and spleen. This list is by no means exhaustive!
vira...
Article
Gallbladder cancer
Gallbladder cancer is relatively uncommon compared to other hepatobiliary malignancies.
Pathology
Primary
gallbladder carcinoma
gallbladder adenocarcinoma: most common 1
gallbladder squamous cell carcinoma
gallbladder neuroendocrine carcinoma
gallbladder sarcoma: very rare 2
gallbladder ...
Article
Cardiac calcification
Cardiac calcification is a broad term for any calcification affecting the valves, coronary arteries, aortic root, endocardium, myocardium, and/or pericardium.
Pathology
Causes of cardiac calcification are:
coronary artery disease (most common)
coronary artery aneurysms, e.g. in Kawasaki dise...
Article
Bands in gestational sacs
Band like structures in the gestational sac is not an uncommon finding in the first trimester or second trimester ultrasound scans and can represent a number of varying conditions
These include
uterine synechiae
amniotic bands
amniotic shelf
circumvallate placenta
chorio-amniotic separatio...
Article
Mastoid air cell opacification
Mastoid air cell opacification can occur in a number of situations and can include a spectrum of inflammatory, neoplastic, vascular, fibro-osseous, and traumatic changes.
Possible causes include:
otomastoiditis
acute otomastoiditis
chronic otomastoiditis
radiation 3
trauma (temporal bone f...
Article
Linear atelectasis
Linear atelectasis (plural: atelectases), and also known as discoid, plate or band atelectasis, refers to a focal area of subsegmental atelectasis that has a linear shape. Linear atelectasis may appear to be horizontal, oblique or perpendicular and is very common. It usually occurs as a conseque...
Article
Compressive atelectasis
Compressive atelectasis refers to a form of lung atelectasis due to compression by a space-occupying process.
Some authors describe it as a subtype of passive (relaxation) atelectasis where the reduction in lung volume is greater than its normal relaxed state 1. Whereas others describe it as th...
Article
Lobar consolidation
Lobar consolidation is the term used to describe consolidation in one of the lobes of the lung. It infers an alveolar spread of disease and is most commonly due to pneumonia.
Pathology
Consolidation refers to the alveolar airspaces being filled with fluid (exudate/transudate/blood), cells (inf...
Article
Right upper lobe consolidation
Right upper lobe consolidation refers to consolidation in part (incomplete) or all (complete) of the right upper lobe.
Pathology
Consolidation refers to the alveolar airspaces being filled with fluid (exudate/transudate/blood), cells (inflammatory), tissue, or other material.
The list of caus...
Article
Sports injuries: overhead elbow
Overhead elbow sports injuries are a group of pathologies seen in sports activities with overhead throwing or strokes, e.g. tennis, volleyball, baseball, javelin throwing. There has been a tremendous increase in the number of participants in these sports activities worldwide.
Pathology
During ...
Article
Gamut
Gamuts in radiology refer to the complete list of differential diagnoses for any radiological finding. We include gamut as a section for articles on Radiopaedia.org.
History and etymology
According to Maurice Reeder, writing in the preface of his own eponymous text on gamuts, it was the trailb...
Article
Epiphora
Epiphora (plural: epiphoras) represents excessive tearing of the eye and is a common clinical presentation to ophthalmological practice. It is most frequently due to an obstruction of the nasolacrimal drainage apparatus. Less commonly, overproduction of tears may be responsible.
Epidemiology
...
Article
Peribronchovascular thickening
Peribronchovascular thickening is a broad imaging descriptive term commonly used to describe thickening of any one or more of the below:
peribronchovascular interstitial thickening
bronchial wall thickening: can be differentiated from true peribronchovascular thickening on cross-sectional imag...
Article
Secondary organizing pneumonia
Secondary organizing pneumonia (SOP) refers to organizing pneumonia that can be attributed to a specific cause, in contrast to cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP) in which no cause is present.
Pathology
Etiology
Secondary organizing pneumonia can be attributed to the following causes 1:
...
Article
Reeder and Felson's Gamuts in Radiology
Reeder and Felson's Gamuts in Radiology, first published in 1975, provided comprehensive lists of radiological differential diagnoses, or gamuts, and was a bestseller for many years. The current publisher is Springer.
The first edition was edited and, primarily, written by Ben Felson and Mauric...
Article
Maurice Reeder
Maurice "Mo" M Reeder (1933-2013) was an American radiologist who is remembered for his contributions to radiology education in the United States, in particular, the development of the radiology-pathology teaching program at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.
Early life
Maurice Merrick R...
Article
Chronic suppurative lung disease
Chronic suppurative lung disease (CSLD) refers to a group of conditions which includes:
cystic fibrosis
bronchiectasis
primary ciliary dyskinesia
This term is usually used in the context of pediatric patients.
Article
Pathological gas
Some medical conditions are characterized by the presence of pathological gas i.e. gas/air found in a space, tissue, or organ, where it would not normally be expected to be.
Terminology
prefix 'pneumo' is common, especially when it refers to gas within a body space/cavity e.g. pneumothorax
em...
Article
Nerve root enhancement
Nerve root enhancement is a phenomenon described on post-contrast MRI scans that can be observed in a number of situations.
Common causes
post-operative nerve root enhancement 6
arachnoiditis
leptomeningeal metastases
disseminated spinal leptomeningeal metastases
neurolymphomatosis
HIV va...
Article
Pediatric nasal cavity masses
Pediatric nasal cavity masses can occur within the nose or the nasopharynx. These masses are often found incidentally on imaging but can be readily apparent clinically.
Clinical presentation
The clinical features of these lesions tend to mimic upper respiratory processes and may result in dela...
Article
Main differentials in musculoskeletal imaging
Here is a list of some of the most useful differential diagnoses in musculoskeletal imaging.
By process
lucent/lytic bone lesions (FEGNOMASHIC)
multiple lucent/lytic bone lesions
benign lytic bone lesions in patients under 30 years old
diffuse bony sclerosis
permeative process in bone
pse...
Article
Dense base of the skull (differential)
The differential diagnosis for a dense base of the skull includes:
Fibrous dysplasia
Paget's disease
Camurati-Engelmann disease
Van Buchem disease
osteopetrosis
pyknodysostosis
meningioma
sclerosteosis
Article
Valvular heart disease
Valvular heart diseases, or cardiac valvulopathies, describe any acquired or congenital disease affecting one or more of the four cardiac valves.
This is a general index article that classifies cardiac valvulopathies depending on which valve(s) is affected 1. See individual articles for in-dept...
Article
Intralobular septal thickening
Intralobular septal thickening is a form of interstitial thickening and should be distinguished from interlobular septal thickening. It is often seen as fine linear or reticular thickening.
It has been described with several conditions of variable etiology which include
sarcoidosis 2
asbestos...
Article
Bowel wall thickening
Bowel wall thickening is a useful finding on imaging studies and has a number of different causes.
Pathology
The reason for bowel wall thickening depends on the underlying etiology but includes submucosal edema, hemorrhage, and neoplastic infiltration.
Radiographic features
In describing bow...
Article
Hypoglobus
Hypoglobus refers to the inferior displacement of the globe in the orbit. It may or may not be associated with enophthalmos.
Causes include:
fracture of the orbital floor (most common)
silent sinus syndrome
orbital masses
orbital foreign bodies
thyroid ophthalmopathy
Article
Pseudobladder
Pseudobladder refers to a pelvic cystic mass that simulates the urinary bladder.
The location of the lesion should allow differentiation from the bladder but if doubt exists and clinical necessity arises, a delayed phase CT/MRI with excreted contrast or Foley catheter-administered retrograde co...
Article
Synovial enhancement
Synovial enhancement is an imaging feature typically observed on MRI imaging. It can occur in various forms and can be focal or diffuse.
Pathology
inflammatory
synovitis
transient synovitis of the hip
infective synovitis
inflammatory arthritides
septic arthritis
tuberculous septic arthri...
Article
Small lung volume (differential diagnosis)
The following differential diagnoses can be considered when small lung volumes are seen:
pulmonary fibrosis
prior surgery, e.g. lobectomy, lung volume reduction surgery
pleural disease, e.g. pleural thickening
skeletal deformities, e.g. kyphosis, scoliosis
systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)...
Article
Pseudohydronephrosis
Pseudohydronephrosis (plural: pseudohydronephroses) refers to normal anatomy or non-significant pathologies that may mimic hydronephrosis. There is usually fluid-density material within a dilated part of the urinary tract, but without other signs of obstruction such as retroperitoneal fat strand...
Article
Calcification of the external ear (differential)
Calcification of the external ear (auricular cartilage) may arise from a number of causes, including:
hyperparathyroidism
gout and pseudogout
relapsing polychondritis
frostbite
trauma
ochronosis
sarcoidosis
diabetes mellitus
adrenal insufficiency
osteoprotegerin (OPG)-deficiency juveni...
Article
Iliac vein occlusion
Iliac vein occlusion can be due to a variety of causes including:
iatrogenic
neonatal catheters
catheter dissection injuries
IVC filter insertion
dialysis catheters
malignancy-related
direct tumor invasion
radiotherapy
enlarged lymph nodes
hypercoagulable state
prior DVTs
May-Thrun...