Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Intramedullary Spinal Cord Lesions: A Pictorial Review

Magnetic resonance imaging is the current imaging modality of choice in the evaluation of patients presenting with myelopathic symptoms in the search for spinal cord lesions. It is important for the radiologist to recognize and differentiate nonneoplastic from the neoplastic process of the spinal cord as the differentiation of the 2 entities is extremely crucial to the neurosurgeon. This article presents a broad spectrum of benign intramedullary spinal abnormalities including syrinx, contusion, abscess, infarction, myelitis, multiple sclerosis, sarcoid, cavernoma, and arteriovenous malformation. Rare intramedullary neoplasms including dermoid tumor, astrocytoma, ependymoma, hemangioblastoma, lymphoma, ganglioneuroblastoma, and metastases are also illustrated. The clinical presentation and magnetic resonance signal characteristics as well as the differential diagnosis of the intramedullary lesions are discussed. The potential pitfalls in the differentiation of tumors from nonneoplastic disease of the spinal cord are also elucidated.