MRI of transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion: imaging appearance with and without the use of human recombinant bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2).

Purpose: To describe the vertebral endplate and intervertebral disc space MRI appearance following TLIF, with and without the use of rhBMP-2, and to determine if the appearance is concerning for discitis/osteomyelitis.

Materials And Methods: After institutional review board approval, 116 TLIF assessments performed on 75 patients with rhBMP-2 were retrospectively and independently reviewed by five radiologists and compared to 73 TLIF assessments performed on 45 patients without rhBMP-2. MRIs were evaluated for endplate signal, disc space enhancement, disc space fluid, and abnormal paraspinal soft tissue.

Complementary roles of CT and endoscopic ultrasound in evaluating a pancreatic mass.

Objective: The objectives of our study were to illustrate normal pancreatic anatomy using endoscopic ultrasound and to show the imaging findings of solid pancreatic masses on endoscopic ultrasound and CT.

Conclusion: CT and endoscopic ultrasound have complementary roles in the diagnosis of solid pancreatic masses.

Primary mediastinal giant cell tumor.

Giant cell tumor of soft tissue is a rare tumor first described by Salm and Sissons in 1972 as being a distinct entity.(1) Histologically, it is composed of multinucleated giant cells dispersed among mononuclear cells, and is indistinguishable from its bone equivalent.(2) The majority of these tumors have been reported to occur in the lower extremity.