The jugular foramen: a review of anatomy, masses, and imaging characteristics. Radiographics 1997;17(5):1123-39
Date
10/06/1997Pubmed ID
9308106DOI
10.1148/radiographics.17.5.9308106Scopus ID
2-s2.0-0031229690 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 115 CitationsAbstract
A variety of lesions may occur in the jugular foramen, arising from the structures normally found within the jugular foramen or from contiguous structures. The most common jugular foramen lesions are nontumoral pseudolesions (eg, asymmetrically enlarged jugular foramen, high or protruding jugular bulb) and tumors (eg, paraganglioma, metastasis). In nontumoral pseudolesions, computed tomography (CT) demonstrates smooth, intact margins of the jugular foramen. Turbulent or slow flow in a high or protruding jugular bulb can result in loss of the flow void and contrast enhancement at magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, thereby mimicking real disease. Use of flow-sensitive techniques or MR angiography will help clarify confusing cases. In cerebral venous thrombosis, CT findings are often normal. At conventional MR imaging, flow-related enhancement and in-plane, turbulent, or slow flow can cause loss of the flow void and thus mimic thrombosis. Consequently, phase-contrast MR venography is the imaging modality of choice in the assessment of cerebral venous thrombosis. Most tumoral lesions of the jugular foramen manifest at CT as areas of infiltrative bone destruction, although schwannoma and meningioma cause smooth enlargement of the jugular foramen. In addition, most of these tumors have low to intermediate signal intensity on T1-weighted MR images and intermediate to high signal intensity on T2-weighted MR images and enhance strongly after the administration of contrast material. Careful analysis of these imaging features and correlation with clinical manifestations can allow a more specific diagnosis.
Author List
Caldemeyer KS, Mathews VP, Azzarelli B, Smith RRAuthor
Vincent Mathews MD Professor in the Radiology department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Brain DiseasesCranial Nerve Diseases
Humans
Jugular Veins
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Occipital Bone
Temporal Bone
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Vascular Diseases
