Intracranial dermoid cyst mimicking hemorrhage

Abstract

Intracranial dermoid cysts are rare congenital lesions that result from abnormal sequestration of ectodermal cells during neural tube formation. Dermoid cysts are typically hypodense on computed tomography, but when hyperdense may mimic a hemorrhage. The authors report the case of a 16-year-old boy who presented with a history of chronic progressive headaches. Findings on a CT scan were indicative of hemorrhage. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed the lesion to be a dermoid cyst with unusual characteristics. Upon gross resection, the lesion appeared to be a dermoid cyst without hemorrhage, but histological evaluation revealed evidence of hemorrhage. The authors describe their experience and review the literature, emphasizing that a dermoid cyst may have unusual radiographic characteristics indicative of hemorrhage and may contain areas of hemorrhage on histological examination.

Traumatic Hemorrhage within a Cerebellar Dermoid Cyst

“…Different with those three cases, the forth case was a 16-year-old boy 9. His intracranial dermoid cyst enhanced homogeneously when contrast medium was used, which was very rare because dermoid cyst usually presented peripheral enhancement on contrast imaging.…”

An Unusual Dermoid Cyst of the Pineal Region: Case report in a Child

“…Moreover, on magnetic resonance images (MRI), they demonstrate increased T1-and variable T2-weighted signal. 10,11 In the present paper, we discuss the clinical and radiological features, as well as the treatment and outcome of this cyst in a 6-year old child with a pineal dermoid cyst.…”

Unusual MR Imaging Features in CT Hyperdense Posterior Fossa Dermoids: Report of Two Cases

“…1,2 CT hyperdense dermoids have been reported in the posterior fossa but the cause of this atypical appearance is still not clear, though varied reasons like high protein content or hemorrhage have been ascribed to this appearance. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] It is pertinent to know about unusual imaging characteristics of dermoid cysts because they may be confused with other more common lesions of the posterior fossa like meningioma, hemangioblastoma, or even as hemorrhage and the basis of their appearances. Presence of unusual features such as mural nodule without any dermal sinus tract may add to further diagnostic uncertainty.…”