Interactive Transcript
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So this patient presented with multiple
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cranial neuropathies on the left side,
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which included hearing loss but
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also difficulty swallowing,
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suggesting that there was a 9th and 10th nerve palsy
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as well. So let's take a look at the top left image.
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So this is the heavily T2-weighted image.
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And again,
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I'm going to draw my line down the middle.
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And again,
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one of the things that I always do on my head and
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neck case, I draw my line down the middle,
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and I compare one side to the opposite side.
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Now, this patient's symptoms were on the left side,
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so I'm really looking for pathology.
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So let's analyze this image.
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Heavily T2-weighted image
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has cranial neuropathies.
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So here's our Porus Acusticus
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on the uninvolved side.
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And now I can see this nerve
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here and this nerve here.
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And as I follow it through the Porus Acusticus,
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I can see nice, clear CSF.
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Now let's take a look on the symptomatic side,
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I can see this nerve, which is anteriorly,
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which is going into the cochlea.
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So that's a cochlear nerve.
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And if I'm at the level of the cochlear nerve,
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then I have to be at the level of
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the inferior vestibular nerve.
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So in the fungus of the internal auditory canal,
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I can see those two nerves.
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But as I extend more medially,
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all of a sudden I see this mass right here,
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which I cannot explain.
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It's too high to be the flocculus,
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and there should be nothing extending into
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the Porus Acusticus at this level.
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If I look at the lower image,
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this is a non-contrast T1-weighted image.
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Maybe with a leap of faith,
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I see a little bit of mass right here.
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It's hard to say, but when we give contrast,
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there's clearly a mass here that's involving
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the left cerebellopontine angle,
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but does not extend through the Porus Acusticus,
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nor does it have the dural tail.
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So this particular case,
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it doesn't have the dural tail.
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It's extending medial to the porus acusticus,
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so it's probably not a vestibular schwannoma.
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So now I have to think,
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what are the things that could arise in the
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cerebellopontine angle that do not have a dural
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tail that are not extending into the internal
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auditory canal that are extra-axial?
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So I have to think of various things.
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So one of the things I look for when I'm looking at
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the CP angle or any mass that I'm not sure of is,
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are there multiple lesions? So at this level,
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we're at the level of the internal auditory canal.
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Once we go lower into the midbrain, again,
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I'm going to draw my line down the middle
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and compare one side to the other side.
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The patient's symptoms run their left side.
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So when I start looking at the left side,
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I see these two little lines right here.
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And these two little lines correspond
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to the lines on the left side.
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And this is the 9th and 10th nerve complex extending
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into the jugular foramen. And just anterior medial,
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we can see this enhancing mass that
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is abutting these various nerves.
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So now I'm dealing with two lesions.
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And then if I look even a little bit closer,
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there's another area right here of enhancement.
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That's involving the leptomeninges of the medulla.
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So now, all of a sudden,
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I have three focal areas of enhancement.
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One at the level of the internal auditory canal,
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another one adjacent to the left
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9th and 10th nerve complex,
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and a third area of enhancement along the
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leptomeninges adjacent to the medulla.
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So when I have multiple enhancing lesions in the
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posterior fossa, the diagnosis is more than likely
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leptomeningeal metastases.
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