Emergency #11 – Long case

23-year-old male:
* HET
* Macroscopic hematuria and blood at urine meatus

What is the most likely diagnosis? What should we do next?

Click here to see the answer

 X-ray: Bilateral pelvis fractures discontinuity iliopectineal line most clearly left-sided

CT: Bilateral ramus superior/anterior iliac bone and ramus inferior pubic bone
Avulsion fracture symphysis pubis
Fracture sacrum on the right

Look also in soft-tissue setting!

Large hematoma posterior of symphysis pubis around urethra and perineum, lateral around the pelvic floor obturator internus muscles and cranially in the retroperitoneal Retzius space anterior of the bladder

Do a RUG: Retrograde Urethrogram. If intact, followed by CT Cystography

RUG shows contrast extravasation and complete rupture of anterior bulbous part of urethra, grade V isolated anterior injury. However, the rupture might be at the anatomic weak point, the bulbomembranous junction, meaning avulsion of the puboprostatic ligament and stretching of the membranous urethra. There is no contrast above the urogenital diaphragm (level of symphysis pubis). Contrast in the bladder is a residue from the IV contrast given for earlier total body CT.

Goldman classification urethral injury

Anterior urethra = Penile and bulbous part
Posterior urethra = Membranous and prostatic part

  • Type I: stretching the posterior urethra due to disruption of puboprostatic ligaments and hematoma, but urethra is intact
  • Type II: posterior urethral injury above urogenital diaphragm (between ischiopubic rami)
  • Type III: injury to membranous urethra, extending into the proximal bulbous urethra (i.e. with laceration of the urogenital diaphragm), thus contrast extravasation below diaphragm
  • Type IV: bladder base injury involving bladder neck and proximal urethrainternal sphincter is injured, hence the potential for incontinence
  • Type IVa: bladder base injury, not involving bladder neck (cannot be differentiated from type IV radiologically)
  • Type V: anterior urethral injury (isolated)

* In this case, no CT cystography was performed
* Patient was treated conservatively

Neuroradiology #11 – Long case

47-year-old male:
* Presented with epistaxis

Axial & coronal CT+C

Where is the lesion?

The bulk of the tumour is within the ethmoid sinuses extending inferiorly into the nasal cavity and superiorly into the intracranial cavity through the cribriform plates

What is the lesion like?

Enhancing soft-tissue tumor expanding the ethmoid sinuses and nasal cavity

T2, T1 and T1+C

What are the MRI signal characteristics?

Mixed signal intensity on T2, low signal on T1, and intense enhancement on post-contrast images

What is the differential diagnosis of paranasal sinus tumour?

* Olfactory neuroblastoma:  involves the ethmoid sinuses  and extends through the cribriform plate into the anterior cranial fossa. Usually, shows intense enhancement and may show calcifications. They are slow growing with sinus expansion

* Juvenile angiofibroma: benign locally aggressive vascular  tumor that affects adolescents. It is usually lobulated and expands the sphenopalatine foramen. Intense enhancement on post-contrast images

* Sinonasal carcinoma: heterogeneously enhancing mass that erodes the bone and may extend into the orbits or intracranially

* Lymphoma: low T2 signal with intense contrast enhancement and usually expands the bone

Diagnosis:Olfactory neuroblastoma