1/Have disagreements between radiologists on the degree of cervical canal stenosis become a pain in the neck?

Worried about sticking your neck out & calling severe cervical stenosis?

This month’s @theAJNR SCANtastic has the latest about Cspine MRI!

ajnr.org/content/46/4/7… @TheAJNR 2/In the lumbar spine, it is all about the degree of canal narrowing & room for nerve roots.

In the cervical spine, we have another factor to think about—the cord.

Cord integrity is key. No matter the degree of stenosis, if the cord isn’t happy, the patient won’t be either

1/Do radiologists sound like they are speaking a different language when they talk about MRI?

T1 shortening what? T2 prolongation who?

Here’s a translation w/an introductory thread to MRI. 2/Let’s start w/T1—it is #1 after all! T1 is for anatomy

Since it’s anatomic, brain structures will reflect the same color as real life

So gray matter is gray on T1 & white matter is white on T1

So if you see an image where gray is gray & white is white—you know it’s a T1

1/Asking “How old are you?” can be dicey—both in real life & on MRI! Do you know how to tell the age of blood on MRI?

Here’s a thread on how to date blood on MRI so that the next time you see a hemorrhage, your guess on when it happened will always be in the right vein! 2/If you ask someone how to date blood on MRI, they’ll spit out a crazy mnemonic about babies that tells you what signal blood should be on T1 & T2 imaging by age.

But mnemonics are crutch—they help you memorize, but not understand. If you understand, you don’t need to memorize

1/Radiologist not answering the phone?

Just want a quick read on that stat head CT?

Here's a little help on how to do it yourself w/a thread on how to read a head CT! 2/In bread & butter neuroimaging—CT is the bread—maybe a little bland, not super exciting—but necessary & you can get a lot of nutrition out of it

MRI is like the butter—everyone loves it, it makes everything better, & it packs a lot of calories. Today, we start w/the bread!

1/Time to FESS up! Do you understand functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS)?

If you read sinus CTs, you better know what the surgeon is doing or you won’t know what you’re doing!

Here’s a thread to make sure you always make the important findings! 2/The first step is to insert the endoscope into the nasal cavity.

The first two structures encountered are the nasal septum and the inferior turbinate.

1/Ready for a throw down?

MMA fights get a lot of attention, but MMA (middle meningeal art) & dural blood supply doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

A thread on dural vascular anatomy! 2/Everyone knows about the blood supply to the brain.

Circle of Willis anatomy is king and loved by everyone, while the vascular anatomy of the blood supply to the dura is the poor, wicked step child of vascular anatomy that is often forgotten

1/ Need a global perspective on dementia?

Do you know the global cortical atrophy (GCA) score for evaluating dementia patients—or are you still gestalting volume loss???

Don’t estimate when you can calculate!

Here’s a thread of what you need to know about the GCA score! 2/The global cortical atrophy score calculates cortical volume loss on a scale of 0-3 in 13 different regions & ventricular dilatation

Gyri shrink down w/atrophy, the same way your cheeks shrink down with aging!

1/Wish that your knowledge of autoimmune encephalitis was automatic?

Do you feel in limbo about limbic encephalitis?

Do you know the patterns?

Read on for what you need to know in this month's @RadioGraphics review!



@cookyscan1 @RadG_Editor doi.org/10.1148/rg.240… @RadioGraphics @cookyscan1 @RadG_Editor 2/Two pearls:
(1) Most common pattern is limbic encephalitis
(2) Small cell can cause any autoimmune pattern.

You can remember the causes by the demographic:
Young man: testicular
Older: Small cell
Woman with psychiatric symptoms (limbic): breast

1/One important aspect to stroke care is well, ASPECTS.

It’s a simple score system—but it’s important to understand all aspects!

Read on for the latest research on ASPECTS in this month’s @theAJNR SCANtastic!

ajnr.org/content/46/3/5… 2/ASPECTS stands for “Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score.”

It’s meant to replace gestalt-ing what percent of the MCA territory is infarcted.

Instead, it uses a 10-pt score to semi-quantitate the infarcted tissue in the MCA territory on non-contrast head CT

1/Don't fall for the siren song of calling all bright round objects at foramen of Monro colloid cysts.

Like a true siren song, this may be a TRAP!

If you hear the call of colloid—read this first!

Here's a thread about lesions here that can trap you--& how you can avoid them! 2/Here are 3 lesions, all round and bright and in the region of the foramen of Monro.

Can you tell from the images which is a colloid cyst and which may be something else?

Choose which one or ones you think are a colloid cyst!

1/Remembering spinal fracture classifications is back breaking work!

A thread to review the scoring system for thoracic & lumbar fractures—“TLICS” to the cool kids! 2/TLICS scores a fx on (1) morphology & (2) posterior ligamentous complex injury

Let's start w/morphology

TLICS scores severity like the steps to make & eat a pizza:

Mild compression (kneading), strong compression (rolling), rotation (tossing), & distraction (tearing in)

1/The 90s called & wants its carotid imaging back!

It’s been 30 years--why are you still just quoting NASCET?

Do you feel vulnerable when it comes to identifying plaque vulnerability?

Here’s a thread to help you identify high risk plaques with carotid plaque imaging 2/Everyone knows the NASCET criteria:

If the patient is symptomatic & the greatest stenosis from the plaque is >70% of the diameter of normal distal lumen, patient will likely benefit from carotid endarterectomy.

But that doesn’t mean the remaining patients are just fine!

1/Do you know all the aspects of, well, ASPECTS?

Many know the anterior circulation stroke scoring system—but posterior circulation (pc) ASPECTS is often left behind

25% of infarcts are posterior circulation

Do you know pc-ASPECTS?!

Here’s how to remember pc-ASPECTS! 2/Many know anterior circulation ASPECTS.

It uses a 10-point scoring system to semi-quantitation the amount of the MCA territory infarcted on non-contrast head CT

If you need a review: here’s my thread on ASPECTS:

https://x.com/teachplaygrub/status/1587472264764657664

1/I always say you can tell a bad read on a spine MR if it doesn’t talk about lateral recesses.

What will I think when I see your read? Do you rate lateral recess stenosis?

Here’s a thread on lateral recess anatomy & a grading system for lateral recess stenosis 2/First anatomy.

Thecal sac is like a highway, carrying the nerve roots down the lumbar spine.

Lateral recess is part of the lateral lumbar canal, which is essentially the exit for spinal nerve roots to get off the thecal sac highway & head out into the rest of the body

1/Does PTERYGOPALATINE FOSSA anatomy feel as confusing as its spelling?

Does it seem to have as many openings as letters in its name?

Are you pterrified of the pterygopalatine fossa (PPF)?

Let this thread on PPF anatomy help you out. 2/The PPF is a crossroads between the skullbase & the extracranial head and neck

There are 4 main regions that meet here:

(1) Skullbase itself posteriorly, (2) nasal cavity medially, (3) infratemporal fossa laterally, and (4) orbit anteriorly.

1/Feel like a fish out of water when it comes to water on the brain?

Read on for this month’s @Radiographics summary of what you need to know about hydrocephalus!!



@cookyscan1 @RadG_editor #RGphx doi.org/10.1148/rg.240… 2/To understand hydrocephalus, think of CSF like the flow of traffic

3 main ways traffic backs up:

(1) Obstruction on the road:
For hydrocephalus, this is an obstruction along CSF in the ventricle

1/Do scans for dizziness make your head spin?

Need to know what to look for?

Just hear me out!

This month’s @theAJNR SCANtastic will show what to look for:

ajnr.org/content/46/2/3… 2/I always remember the rhyme of the big three for dizz-ee!

First, are vestibular schwannomas

These give an ice cream cone shape in the internal auditory canal! So scoop up that finding!

1/Time is brain! But what time is it?

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.

1/My hardest thread yet! Are you up for the challenge?

How stroke perfusion imaging works!

Ever wonder why it’s Tmax & not Tmin?

Do you not question & let RAPID read the perfusion for you? Not anymore! 2/Perfusion imaging is based on one principle: When you inject CT or MR intravenous contrast, the contrast flows w/blood & so contrast can be a surrogate marker for blood.

This is key, b/c we can track contrast—it changes CT density or MR signal so we can see where it goes.

1/”That’s a ninja turtle looking at me!” I exclaimed. My fellow rolled his eyes at me, “Why do I feel I’m going to see this a thread on this soon…”

He was right! A thread about one of my favorite imaging findings & pathology behind it 2/Now the ninja turtle isn’t an actual sign—yet!

But I am hoping to make it go viral as one. To understand what this ninja turtle is, you have to know the anatomy.

I have always thought the medulla looks like a 3 leaf clover in this region.

The most medial bump of the clover is the medullary pyramid (motor fibers).

Next to it is the inferior olivary nucleus (ION), & finally, the last largest leaf is the inferior cerebellar peduncle.

Now you can see that the ninja turtle eyes correspond to the ION.

1/They say form follows function!

Brain MRI anatomy is best understood in terms of both form & function.

Here’s a thread to help you to remember important functional brain anatomy! 2/Let’s start at the top.

At the vertex is the superior frontal gyrus.

This is easy to remember, bc it’s at the top—and being at the top is superior. It’s like the superior king at the top of the vertex.