2/On axial temporal bone CT, you cannot see the whole cochlea at once. So let’s start at the bottom. The first thing you come to is the basal turn of the cochlea (makes sense, basal=bottom). On axial images, it looks like a banana. I remember both Basal and Banana start w/B.
3/As you move up to the next slice, you start to see the upper turns of the cochlea coming in above the basal turn. They look like a stack of pancakes. Pancakes are the heart of any breakfast, so they are at the heart or middle of the cochlea on imaging.
4/On this slice showing pancakes, you can see the round window and the round window niche. I remember that this slice is where you can see the round window bc pancakes are ROUND.
5/As you move up, you leave the basal turn behind & see only the upper turns. These no longer look like pancakes bc cochlear scala separate them. Instead they look like a bunch of cherries. I know I’m at the cochlea top when I see cherries bc you always put a cherry on top!
6/Here’s an easy way to remember the order of the appearance of the cochlea. Starting at the basal turn, B is for banana & basal. Bananas can make banana pancakes, so the next slice is pancakes. Finally, you put a cherry on top of the pancakes, so top of the cochlea is cherries.
7/On the coronal plane, you get a sense of the spiral nature of the cochlea. It looks like the spiral of a snail’s shell.
8/Looking closely, you can see eyes of the snail on coronal images.Eyes are right in front of the cochlear snail shell—canal of labyrinthine facial nerve segment going anterior & canal of the tympanic segment coming back. Makes sense that the FACIAL nerve canal would be the EYES
9/So now you know the anatomy of the cochlea, so it won’t just look like the layered rolls of Jabba the Hutt to you. May the force of this knowledge be with you!
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If you don’t know the time of stroke onset, are you able to deduce it from imaging?
Here’s a thread to help you date a stroke on MRI!
2/Strokes evolve, or grow old, the same way people evolve or grow old.
The appearance of stroke on imaging mirrors the life stages of a person—you just have to change days for a stroke into years for a person
So 15 day old stroke has features of a 15 year old person, etc.
3/Initially (less than 4-6 hrs), the only finding is restriction (brightness) on diffusion imaging (DWI).
You can remember this bc in the first few months, a baby does nothing but be swaddled or restricted. So early/newly born stroke is like a baby, only restricted
1/”I LOVE spinal cord syndromes!” is a phrase that has NEVER, EVER been said by anyone.
Do you become paralyzed when you see cord signal abnormality?
Never fear—here is a thread on all the incomplete spinal cord syndromes to get you moving again!
2/Spinal cord anatomy can be complex. On imaging, we can see the ant & post nerve roots. We can also see the gray & white matter. Hidden w/in the white matter, however, are numerous efferent & afferent tracts—enough to make your head spin.
3/Lucky for you, for the incomplete cord syndromes, all you need to know is gray matter & 3 main tracts. Anterolaterally, spinothalamic tract (pain & temp). Posteriorly, dorsal columns (vibration, proprioception, & light touch), & next to it, corticospinal tracts—providing motor
1/Do you get a Broca’s aphasia trying remember the location of Broca's area?
Does trying to remember inferior frontal gyrus anatomy leave you speechless?
Don't be at a loss for words when it comes to Broca's area
Here’s a 🧵to help you remember the anatomy of this key region!
2/Anatomy of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) is best seen on the sagittal images, where it looks like the McDonald’s arches.
So, to find this area on MR, I open the sagittal images & scroll until I see the arches. When it comes to this method of finding the IFG, i’m lovin it.
3/Inferior frontal gyrus also looks like a sideways 3, if you prefer. This 3 is helpful bc the inferior frontal gyrus has 3 parts—called pars
1/Need help reading spine imaging? I’ve got your back!
It’s as easy as ABC!
A thread about an easy mnemonic you can use on every single spine study you see to increase your speed & make sure you never miss a thing!
2/A is for alignment
Look for: (1) Unstable injuries
(2) Malalignment that causes early degenerative change. Abnormal motion causes spinal elements to abnormally move against each other, like grinding teeth wears down teeth—this wears down the spine
3/B is for bones.
On CT, the most important thing to look for w/bones is fractures. You may see focal bony lesions, but you may not
On MR, it is the opposite—you can see marrow lesions easily but you may or may not see edema associated w/fractures if the fracture is subtle