1. A: In this patient at T12, there is a pathologic fracture through a large metastatic lesion. The sagittal T1-weighted sequence shows replacement of normal bright fatty marrow by hypointense tumor. Notice the convex bowing of the affected vertebral body. Though not well seen at T12 due to slice selection, there is visible tumor in the posterior elements of several lumbar vertebral bodies, a feature that helps differentiate pathologic fractures from osteoporotic ones. B: Sagittal T2-weighted sequence show subtle cord edema at T12–L1 secondary to cord compression by the tumor related pathologic T12 fracture. C: Axial post contrast T1 sequence illustrates enhancing tumor deforming the thoracic cord and displacing it dorsally and to the left.
Source: Chapter 11. Pathologic Conditions of the Spine, The Atlas of Emergency Radiology
Citation: Block J, Jordanov MI, Stack LB, Thurman R. The Atlas of Emergency Radiology; 2013 Available at: Accessed: November 11, 2017
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved