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 continuously improved upon by countless contributing members. Our dedicated editors oversee each edit for accuracy and style. Find out more about articles.

16,871 results found
Article

Blumcke classification of focal cortical dysplasia

Blumcke et al. proposed (2011) 2 the widely adopted consensus classification system for focal cortical dysplasia, which shares many features with the previously described classification systems by Palmini (2004) and Barkovich (2005).  Unfortunately, as is the case with many classification syst...
Article

Aspergilloma

Aspergillomas are mass-like fungus balls (mycetomas) typically composed of Aspergillus fumigatus and are a non-invasive form of pulmonary aspergillosis. They usually fall under the subgroup chronic pulmonary aspergillosis. Epidemiology Aspergillomas occur in patients with normal immunity but s...
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Visual assessment of coronary artery calcification

Overall visual assessment of coronary artery calcification is a simple scoring system for risk assessment of coronary heart disease mortality by an overall "gestalt" of none, mild, moderate or heavy coronary artery calcification (CAC). It is comparable to the Agatston score but has the advantage...
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Neer classification of proximal humeral fractures

The Neer classification of proximal humeral fractures is probably the most frequently used system along with the AO classification of proximal humeral fractures. The terminology and factors which influence the classification are essential for the utility of radiology reports of proximal humeral ...
Article

Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria

Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), also known as Marchiafava-Micheli syndrome or Strübing-Marchiafava anemia, is an acquired hematopoietic stem cell disorder whereby some of the red blood cells produced are defective and are susceptible to premature destruction by the immune system, lead...
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Rectal cancer (staging)

Staging of rectal cancer uses the TNM staging system and strongly predicts the success, and rate, of local recurrence following rectal cancer resection. MRI is the modality of choice for the staging of rectal cancer, to guide surgical and non-surgical management options. MRI is used at diagnosis...
Article

Thermal index

The thermal index (TI) is intended as a measure of an ultrasound beam's thermal bioeffects. It is often displayed on ultrasound screens (along with the mechanical index). Absorption of sound waves may cause heating in tissue. The thermal index depends on: a measure of time-averaged acoustic p...
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Suspected physical abuse

Suspected physical abuse (SPA), also known as non-accidental injury (NAI) or inflicted injury, in infants and young children represents both ethical and legal challenges to treating physicians. Radiologists may be the first clinical staff to suspect non-accidental injuries when confronted with ...
Article

Libman-Sacks endocarditis

Libman-Sacks endocarditis (LSE), also known as verrucous endocarditis, is a form of non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis characterized by large thrombi vegetations over the endocardial surface. It was considered the predominant form of endocarditis in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) until tr...
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Mediastinal mass

Mediastinal masses may be caused by a wide variety of neoplastic and non-neoplastic pathologies. It is helpful to identify the location of the mass since this significantly reduces the breadth of the differential diagnosis.  There are four conceptual compartments of the mediastinum which are di...
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Acromegaly

Acromegaly is the result of excessive growth hormone production in skeletally mature patients, most commonly from a pituitary adenoma. The same excess of growth hormone in individuals whose epiphyses have not fused will result in gigantism (excessively tall stature).   Epidemiology Acromegaly ...
Article

West Nile virus

West Nile virus (WNV) is an arbovirus and one of the Flavivirus genus known to cause neuroinvasive disease, including Flavivirus encephalitis. According to the CDC, the majority of mosquito-borne disease in the continental United States is attributed to West Nile virus infection 1.  Epidemiolog...
Article

Disc protrusion

Disc protrusions are a type of disc herniation characterized by protrusion of disc content beyond the normal confines of the intervertebral disc, over a segment less than 25% of the circumference of the disc. The width of the base is wider than the largest diameter of the disc material which pro...
Article

Paracondylar process

The paracondylar process, also known as the paraoccipital, paramastoid, parajugular or estiloid process, is a rare anatomical variant of the occipital where a bony exostosis extends caudally from the paracondylar region (lateral to the native occipital condyles), typically articulating with the ...
Article

Ligamentum nuchae

The ligamentum nuchae or nuchal ligament is a large median ligament composed of tendons and fascia located between the posterior muscles of the neck. Gross anatomy The ligament nuchae covers the spines of C1 to C6 vertebrae. It is a superior and posterior extension of the supraspinous ligament...
Article

Oligodendroglioma

Oligodendrogliomas are intracranial tumors that account for 5-25% of all gliomas and 5-10% of all primary intracranial neoplasms. They are characterized by IDH mutation and 1p19q codeletion and can be WHO CNS grade 2 or 3.  On imaging, oligodendrogliomas commonly present as masses involving th...
Article

Optic nerve sheath meningioma

Optic nerve meningiomas are benign tumors arising from the arachnoid cap cells of the optic nerve sheath and represent ~20% of all orbital meningiomas, the majority of which are direct extensions from intracranial meningiomas.  These tumors typically appear as masses within the optic nerve, iso...
Article

Primary hyperoxaluria

Primary hyperoxaluria, also referred to as primary oxalosis, is a congenital autosomal recessive disease related to a liver enzyme deficiency leading to massive cortical nephrocalcinosis and renal failure.  Please refer to secondary oxalosis for a discussion on the acquired form of hyperoxaluri...
Article

Percutaneous cholecystostomy

Percutaneous cholecystostomy is the image-guided placement of a drainage catheter into the gallbladder lumen. This minimally invasive procedure can aid in patient stabilization in order to enable a more measured surgical approach with time for therapeutic planning. A 2018 study demonstrated no ...
Article

Chemical shift artifact

Chemical shift artifact or misregistration is a type of MRI artifact. It is a common finding on some MRI sequences and used in magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). This artifact occurs in the frequency-encoding direction and is due to spatial misregistration of fat and water molecules.  Chemi...

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