Tag: Unknown cases

Brain Bites – Central Neurocytoma

Posted on by Brent Weinberg, MD

Brain Bites – Central Neurocytoma

Welcome to our new series, Brain Bites, where we are going to be making short videos featuring other physicians and learners explaining neuroradiology concepts in short, easily digestible bites. Hopefully these videos will give you some quick points so that you can become more effective at evaluating brain and spine imaging.

Today’s video is focused on central neurocytoma and is presented by Stefani Yates, a medical student at Morehouse School of Medicine.

Central neurocytoma is a heterogeneous mass which usually occurs in the frontal horn of the lateral ventricle along the septum pellucidum, or the then septation that separates the lateral ventricles. These masses are usually heterogeneous on T2, isointense or similar to gray matter on T1, and enhance heterogeneously and avidly. In this case you can see a mass in the left frontal horn along the septum pellucidum.

Patients can be asymptomatic or they may present with nonspecific features such as a headache, as this patient did. Treatment is usually surgical resection, or they can be conservatively managed.

The differential diagnosis includes:

  • Ependymoma – an enhancing mass more common in the 4th ventricle
  • Subependymoma – a ventricular mass which usually does not enhance
  • Meningioma – a ventricular mass most common in the occipital horn which has more homogeneous enhancement.

So, if you see an intraventricular mass along the septum pellucidum, keep in mind central neurocytoma. Thanks for watching today!

Check out the full Brain Bites page or the Brain Bites YouTube Playlist for more short learning content.

Fast 10 – High speed case review

Posted on by Brent Weinberg, MD

Fast 10 – High speed case review

These videos focus on going quickly through neuroradiology cases, spending about 1 minute per case to get you through 10 cases in 10 minutes. Ideal for a quick review before an exam or neuroradiology rotation. An ideal way to go through a lot of cases quickly.

Each case shows a couple of images with a multiple choice question, followed by a quick review of the answer and the diagnosis.

If you prefer longer versions of these cases, check out the full “Neuroradiology board review cases – All” playlist on YouTube

Board Review Cases – All

Posted on by Brent Weinberg, MD

Board Review Cases – All topics

This playlist is a collection of all the board review style cases on the site. All the board review style cases on the site in one place! These cases are geared towards preparation for the radiology resident ABR core exam, although similar material is used for the ABR certifying exam general and neuroradiology sections as well as neuroradiology CAQ.

The format of this playlist is case-based. Each case consists of a series of images followed by 1 or 2 questions. The first question is usually to name the diagnosis, while the second is a multiple choice question to test deeper understanding of the specific condition. Try to get the diagnosis before you see the second questions.

If you prefer, check out the full “Neuroradiology board review cases – All” playlist on YouTube.

 

Neuroradiology Board Review 2022 – Brain Tumors

Posted on by Brent Weinberg, MD

Neuroradiology Board Review 2022 – Brain Tumors

Welcome to this new board review series for 2022. In this series, we are going to focus on all things brain tumors that you might need to know as you prepare for the American Board of Radiology exams. While these videos are geared towards those taking the ABR core exam, they would also be useful for people taking the certifying or certificate of added qualification (CAQ) in neuroradiology exam.

There are going to be a total of 20 cases covering the most common brain tumors you might encounter in neuroradiology practice. Each one will have a series of images followed by 1 or 2 questions you can answer on your own as you follow along. Then there will be an explanation of the answers before you can move on.

By doing this series, hopefully you can quickly cover everything you need to know about brain tumors.

If you have not yet seen the other board review videos, I recommend you check out the categorized board review page.

Board Review 3 – Full lecture

Posted on by Brent Weinberg, MD

Board Review 3 – Full lecture

This lecture is a board review lecture geared towards preparation for the radiology resident ABR core exam, although similar material is used for the ABR certifying exam general and neuroradiology sections.

The format of this lecture is case-based. Each case consists of a series of images followed by 1 or 2 questions. The first question is usually to name the diagnosis, while the second is a multiple choice question to test deeper understanding of the specific condition. Try to get the diagnosis before you see the second questions.

The first 10 cases cover brain tumors and the remaining 9 cover general neuroradiology. The final case will be a high speed multiple choice review.

Neuroradiology physics review – 2 – Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Posted on by Brent Weinberg, MD

Neuroradiology physics review – 2 – Magnetic Resonance Imaging

It’s important for the neuroradiologist to have a basic grasp of physics, particularly in the ways that it may affect image quality. In this video, Dr. Michael Hoch goes through a series of 13 MRI cases on physics. Each case is followed by one or more multiple choice questions about that physics principle.

There are a number of ways that physics principles affect MR images, causing various types of suboptimal images, such as:

  • metallic artifacts – areas of signal loss around susceptibility created by metal
  • fat suppression artifacts – areas where fat is incompletely saturated, particularly at the edge of images or adjacent to metal
  • aliasing – where one part of the image is incorrectly mapped to another area due to improper field of view
  • staircase – motion between slices leading to step offs in reconstructed images
  • chemical shift artifact – when a substance such as fat has a different resonance frequency and maps elsewhere into an image
  • zipper/spike artifact – when an external source of frequency noise is mapped into the image domain

Other key principles discussed include:

  • how artifacts may help you make a diagnosis
  • differences in how artifacts may appear on different types of images
  • how to change sequences to mitigate artifact

The level of this lecture is appropriate for radiology residents, radiology fellows, and trainees in other specialties who would like to review radiology physics. This may be particularly useful when preparing for the American Board of Radiology (ABR) core and certifying exams.

Check out this video and additional content on https://www.learnneuroradiology.com

Youtube Playlist 

Neuroradiology physics review – 1 – Computed Tomography

Posted on by Michael Hoch, MD

Neuroradiology physics review – 1 – Computed Tomography

It’s important for the neuroradiologist to have a basic grasp of physics, particularly in the ways that it may affect image quality. In this video, Dr. Michael Hoch goes through a series of 12 CT cases on physics. Each case is followed by multiple choice questions about that physics principle.

There are a number of ways that physics principles affect images, causing various types of suboptimal images, such as:

  • partial volume averaging – when an object only takes up part of a voxel and the resulting output
  • patient motion – when patient moves during imaging, degrading image quality and causing image blurring
  • streak artifact – when high density material adversely affects CT reconstruction, causing lines across an image
  • ring artifact – when a detector fails and causes rings through the image
  • contrast staining – when breakdown of the blood brain barrier allows leakage of contrast into the brain

Other key principles discussed include:

  • pitch
  • computed tomography dose index (CTDI)
  • dose length product (DLP)
  • pre- and post-patient collimation
  • image filtration

The level of this lecture is appropriate for radiology residents, radiology fellows, and trainees in other specialties who would like to review radiology physics. This may be particularly useful when preparing for the American Board of Radiology (ABR) core and certifying exams.

Youtube Playlist 

Board Review Cases – Head and Neck

Posted on by Brent Weinberg, MD

Board Review Cases – Head and Neck

This playlist is a collection of only the head and neck imaging board review cases on this site. This includes pathologies such as head and neck cancer and skull base abnormalities.

These cases are geared towards preparation for the radiology resident ABR core exam, although similar material is used for the ABR certifying exam general and neuroradiology sections as well as neuroradiology CAQ. The format of this playlist is case-based. Each case consists of a series of images followed by 1 or 2 questions. The first question is usually to name the diagnosis, while the second is a multiple choice question to test deeper understanding of the specific condition. Try to get the diagnosis before you see the second questions.

If you prefer, check out the full “Neuroradiology board review cases – Head and Neck” playlist on YouTube.

 

Board Review Cases – Spine

Posted on by Brent Weinberg, MD

Board Review Cases – Spine

This playlist is a collection of only the spine imaging board review cases on this site.

These cases are geared towards preparation for the radiology resident ABR core exam, although similar material is used for the ABR certifying exam general and neuroradiology sections as well as neuroradiology CAQ. The format of this playlist is case-based. Each case consists of a series of images followed by 1 or 2 questions. The first question is usually to name the diagnosis, while the second is a multiple choice question to test deeper understanding of the specific condition. Try to get the diagnosis before you see the second questions.

If you prefer, check out the full “Neuroradiology board review cases – Spine” playlist on YouTube.