Zenker Diverticulum
History: 50 year old male presents with difficulty swallowing, halitosis, and hoarseness. The differential diagnosis of a barium filled sac in the cervical esophagus essentially includes two types of diverticula. The first, and the diagnosis in this case, is a Zenker diverticulum. A Zenker diverticulum is a mucosal herniation through weak areas in the cricopharyngeal […]
Calcified Splenic Cyst
History: 50 year old male with chest pain and shortness of breath has an incidental finding. The differential diagnosis for a calcified mass projecting over the left upper quadrant of the abdomen includes prior granulomatous disease such as histoplasmosis or tuberculosis, arterial calcifications such as a splenic artery aneurysm, splenic infarction, and splenic cyst. Less […]
Superficial Venous Thrombosis to Deep Venous Thrombosis
History: 55 year old female seen five days earlier with a diagnosis of superficial thrombophlebitis returns with continued and worsening leg swelling. This is a case of extension of a superficial venous thrombus into the deep venous system of the leg from the short saphenous vein to the popliteal vein. In patients with superficial […]
Atelectasis
History: 60 year old male with fever, cough, and shortness of breath. This is complete collapse of the lateral basal segment of the left lower lobe, which can also be describe as partial atelectasis of the left lower lobe. Lobar collapse occurs when an entire lobe of the lung is not aerated. Obscuration of the […]
Kerley B Lines
History: 60 year old male with lower extremity edema and shortness of breath. This is an excellent example of Kerley B lines. These lines are created by interlobular septal thickening, typically created by fluid collecting within the pulmonary interstitium. Classically Kerley B lines are seen with cardiogenic pulmonary edema, where left ventricular failure causes increased […]
Superficial Thrombophlebitis
History: 60 year old female with lower extremity pain, swelling, and redness. This is a case of superficial thrombophlebitis, which is an inflammatory-thrombotic disorder of the superficial venous system. Typically it presents with pain, swelling, and warmth in the lower extemities with a “palpable cord,” which represents a thrombosed vein, as in the image above. […]
Transposition of the Inferior Vena Cava
History: 40 year old with abdominal pain and diarrhea. Congenital anomalies of the inferior vena cava in about 0.2-0.5% of the population. Left sided IVC, which is this patient’s diagnosis, is seen in up to 0.5% of the population. Other anomalies besides transposition of the inferior vena cava include azygous continuation of the inferior vena cava, […]
Hematometrocolpos
History: 18 year old female with pelvic pain. On further imaging evaluation with ultrasound, the fluid filled structures in the pelvis turned out to be the right horn of a uterine didelphys and the right portion of the vagina, which was obstructed by a transverse septum. Look again at the image above. The left horn of […]
Ovarian Fibroma on Ultrasound
History: 40 year old female with pelvic pain. The imaging appearance here is consistent with a solid adnexal mass. The differential diagnosis in this case includes pedunculated uterine fibroid, ovarian torsion, Brenner Tumor, fibroma or fibrothecoma, lymphadenopathy, GI tumors and Bladder tumors. The final diagnosis on pathology was ovarian fibroma. These are benign tumors of […]
Appendicitis – On Ultrasound
History: 25 year old female with acute lower abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Given the history, this is essentially diagnostic of appendicitis. Take a look again at the image. The appendix has a target appearance, which also aids in the diagnosis. The target appearance is caused by edema within the various layers of the appendix […]