Upcoming Events
Log In
Pricing
Free Trial

Wk 3, Case 1 - Review

HIDE
PrevNext

0:00

Okay,

0:01

so this was the first case of the patient who had the right hypoglossal nerve

0:06

dysfunction, and most people got this case, uh, correct.

0:11

Here we have our hypoglossal canal,

0:15

and we, when we compare the, uh, let me see if I can magnify everything.

0:20

Okay. Yeah. When we compare the, uh, right side,

0:24

the symptomatic side with the left side,

0:26

you see that there's extra soft tissue in there,

0:29

even on this proton density weighted image.

0:33

When gadolinium is administered,

0:36

we see that this lesion is an enhancing lesion,

0:40

and on the contralateral side, we don't see the same level of enhancement. Now,

0:45

it is true that we often do see some enhancement in the walls of the

0:50

hypoglossal canal, but not solid enhancement in, in the canal.

0:55

Um, as you know,

0:56

we use more and more of the cyst imaging to define the anatomy and sometimes the

1:01

pathology. And as you can see here,

1:04

you have the kind of a grayish tissue versus over here, um,

1:09

not the same level of solid mass that's present in the right

1:14

hypoglossal canal. Uh, just to, uh, gild the lily,

1:18

so to speak. Um,

1:20

I'm gonna magnify this and just make sure that we're comfortable with the fact

1:24

that there is something in the hypoglossal canal compared to the contralateral

1:28

side,

1:30

and that there does look like there's a little bit of erosion or remodeling

1:35

of the clus here. This is our cvis fat. Let's just, um,

1:42

identify the nerves here. So here you can see the,

1:45

the nerves coming into the hypoglossal canal,

1:50

and let's go up from there.

1:53

And here we have the, uh,

1:56

9, 10, 11 complex going into the jugular

2:00

foramen. Above that,

2:02

we have the nerves of the seventh and eighth nerve complex

2:07

going into the internal auditory canal.

2:10

Usually you don't see this beautiful separation nearly as good as we're seeing

2:14

on, on this sequence.

2:16

And if we were to do a sagal reconstructions here,

2:19

we would actually be able to see that this nerve

2:25

is below this nerve,

2:28

and therefore the anterior inferior nerve is gonna be the

2:33

cochlear nerve. The anterior

2:37

superior nerve as we go above here is the facial nerve,

2:40

and we can actually see the separation of superior vestibular from inferior

2:44

vestibular nerves. Um, you notice this nerve coming off of the,

2:49

uh, ponto medullary junction. Here's the medulla, here's the pons.

2:54

This nerve is entering Durrell's canal right there,

2:58

that little dural reflection, and that represents the sixth cranial nerve.

3:02

You can see the little brighter area of, of Durrell's canal.

3:06

So we have six cranial nerve, and then as we go further up,

3:11

we have the fifth cranial nerve on either side going into Mecca's cave,

3:15

so fifth nerve into cave.

3:18

And then as we continue further superiorly,

3:22

remember that the fourth cranial nerve comes off posteriorly

3:27

and goes around the midbrain. We're sort of at the limit here, but, um,

3:32

we usually don't, we don't often see the fourth cranial nerve. It may be this,

3:36

this, that, this structure right here.

3:39

So that's Cys Anatomy or Fiesta Anatomy,

3:44

whatever you use the different, um, acronyms for,

3:48

for the case. So this was a right, um,

3:53

hypoglossal nerve schwannoma that was

3:57

demonstrated quite nicely,

3:59

both on the cyst images as well as post gatin and hand scans.

4:03

Okay. So, um, in the hypoglossal canal,

4:07

it's an unusual location for any other histology.

4:11

Meningiomas don't usually frequent the hypoglossal canal,

4:15

so you can be pretty confident about calling it a schwannoma. I will warn you,

4:19

uh, that I have published a paper on the ex, the,

4:24

uh, frequent extent of, uh,

4:28

paragangliomas into the hypoglossal canal,

4:31

and it occurred at about a 25 to 30% rate.

4:36

So sometimes secondary involvement of the

4:40

hypoglossal canal by a jugular foramen mass,

4:44

a alo giri, uh, does occur. And in fact,

4:47

it may occur more often than a hypoglossal schwannoma since that's a relatively

4:51

uncommon diagnosis.

4:54

Dr. Uson, we do have one question in to chat Now. Um,

4:58

any diffusion signal changes are seen in this case.

5:01

Um, I don't remember that we even, uh, oh, here's the diffusion wave again.

5:06

So let's go, uh, share screen again. Okay. And,

5:10

and the way this sequence, um, has been laid out,

5:15

um, you have the B zero maps followed by the, um,

5:22

the B 1000 and, um, this, this,

5:25

this tissue is just portion of B cerebellum, not in, in,

5:30

down here in the hypoglossal canal, you don't see anything.

5:32

This is just part of the cerebellar tonsils. So it's not visible,

5:37

visible in this, uh, sequence.

Report

Patient History
Right hypoglossal nerve dysfunction.

Findings
Pre- and postcontrast MR was performed of the brain with thin section images through the skull base.

Brain: Noncontrast sagittal T1 weighted images show no evidence of Chiari malformation. The corpus callosum is intact. No abnormal pineal region masses are seen. The pituitary gland is not enlarged. Diffusion imaging shows no evidence of recent infarct. The axial FLAIR and T2 weighted images show prominence of the sulci and ventricles. There is no evidence of vasogenic edema or mass effect. The contrast-enhanced T1 weighted images show no abnormal intra-axial or extra-axial enhancing lesions. The inferior portion of the brain MRI extended to the superior aspect of the right oral tongue. There is a subtle suggestion of potentially some fatty infiltration involving the intrinsic muscle of the right half of the mobile tongue.

Skull Base: Thin-section imaging performed through the skull base shows an enhancing lesion that measures approximately 9mm x 7mm located in the right hypoglossal canal and is best seen on image 7 of series 15 and images 5 and 6 of series 16. These findings are most consistent with a right hypoglossal nerve schwannoma. The contrast-enhanced T1 weighted images show no abnormal enhancing lesions in either internal auditory canal. No abnormal enhancement is seen in either cochlear or vestibule. No evidence of pericochlear enhancement is seen. There is no evidence of focal increased T1 signal involving either cochlear or vestibule to suggest spontaneous labyrinthine hemorrhage.

Conclusions
1. Enhancing mass in the right hypoglossal foramen which is suggestive of a right hypoglossal nerve schwannoma.
2. No abnormal enhancing masses in either internal auditory canal.
3. Prominence of the sulci and ventricles without evidence of vasogenic edema.
4. No abnormal intra-axial enhancing lesions in the brain.

Case Discussion

Faculty

David M Yousem, MD, MBA

Professor of Radiology, Vice Chairman and Associate Dean

Johns Hopkins University

Suresh K Mukherji, MD, FACR, MBA

Clinical Professor, University of Illinois & Rutgers University. Faculty, Michigan State University. Director Head & Neck Radiology, ProScan Imaging

Tags

Neuroradiology

MRI

Head and Neck