Glioma - pre and post-contrast CT
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Glioma - pre and post-contrast CT
- A 'space-occupying' mass lesion in the left cerebral hemisphere shows 'ring-enhancement' post intravenous contrast
- Centrally the mass is low in density due to necrosis of brain tissue
- Biopsy confirmed this to be a glioma (malignant brain tumour)
- Cerebral abscesses can look identical and so should be considered as a differential diagnosis of a ring-enhancing lesion
Clinical information
- Headache worsening for 2 weeks
- Irritability
- Increased tone in right arm
- Afebrile with normal inflammatory markers
Cerebral abscess - pre and post-contrast CT
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Cerebral abscess - pre and post-contrast CT
- The post-contrast CT image shows a ring enhancing lesion in the right frontal lobe with oedema of surrounding white matter
- It is not possible to reliably distinguish a brain tumour from a cerebral abscess on the grounds of CT appearances alone
- Clinical and biochemical features can help to determine the cause of a ring enhancing lesion
- MRI can also be helpful
Clinical information
- 2 day history of increasing headaches and clumsiness
- Seizure
- In this case the inflammatory markers were normal and a tumour was initially suspected
- Tissue biopsy confirmed this to be an abscess