PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Nackos, J.S.
AU  - Wiggins, R.H.
AU  - Harnsberger, H.R.
TI  - CT and MR Imaging of Giant Cell Granuloma of the Craniofacial Bones
DP  - 2006 Sep 01
TA  - American Journal of Neuroradiology
PG  - 1651--1653
VI  - 27
IP  - 8
4099  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/27/8/1651.short
4100  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/27/8/1651.full
SO  - Am. J. Neuroradiol.2006 Sep 01; 27
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Giant cell granuloma (GCG) is a rare lesion. The purpose of this study was to determine the CT characteristics and describe possible MR imaging features of GCG of the craniofacial bones.METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 7 CT studies and 1 MR imaging study of 7 histologically proved cases of GCG in 2 men, 3 women, and 2 patients of unknown gender, aged 12–51 years, during a period of 10 years, from 1995 to 2005.RESULTS: The granulomas predominantly involved the maxilla in 3 patients, the mandible in 2 patients, the temporal bone in 1 patient, and the nasal cavity in 1 patient. These lesions on imaging were expansile masses that demonstrated adjacent bone wall thinning, and most were associated with lytic bone destruction. They were predominantly masses with soft-tissue attenuation on CT scans and may have infiltrated the surrounding soft-tissue structures. The patient with an MR imaging had a lesion that was hypointense on both T1- and T2-weighted MR images. The lesions revealed avid homogeneous contrast enhancement.CONCLUSION: The imaging features of GCG are nonspecific. However, this entity should be included in the differential diagnosis of expansile lesions in the craniofacial bones.