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Aim: To describe the imaging findings (MR imaging and angiography) of high-flow vascular anomalies of the tongue, hemangiomas and arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), with emphasis on the discrepant imaging findings in lingual AVMs., Materials and Methods: Retrospective review of clinical records, histologic reports and imaging studies of five consecutive patients with high-flow lingual vascular anomalies., Results: One patient had hemangioma (aged 1 month) and four patients had AVMs (aged 15 months, 6, 24, and 33 years). Diagnosis was made on the basis of histology in four lesions and was based on typical clinical history in one lesion. MR imaging and angiographic findings of the hemangioma were typical, but similar findings of focal hyperintense mass on T2-weighted images and angiographic stain were seen in three AVMs (patients aged 15 months, 6 and 33 years). On angiography, there was no nidus or direct arteriovenous (AV) shunting in one AVM (patient aged 15 months). The fourth AVM had typical MR imaging and angiographic findings., Conclusion: The imaging findings in lingual AVMs can be atypical or inconclusive and can mimic hemangiomas, especially in the young patient. Since treatment depends on accurate diagnosis, biopsy may be necessary for lesions with inconclusive imaging findings.

Rapidly involuting congenital hemangioma (RICH) is a recently recognized entity in which the vascular tumor is fully developed at birth and undergoes rapid involution. Angiographic findings in two infants with congenital hemangioma are reported and compared with a more common postnatal infantile hemangioma and a congenital infantile fibrosarcoma. Congenital hemangiomas differed from infantile hemangiomas angiographically by inhomogeneous parenchymal staining, large and irregular feeding arteries in disorganized patterns, arterial aneurysms, direct arteriovenous shunts, and intravascular thrombi. Both infants had clinical evidence of a high-output cardiac failure and intralesional bleeding. This congenital high-flow vascular tumor is difficult to distinguish angiographically from arteriovenous malformation and congenital infantile fibrosarcoma.

Background: An increase in the number of patients undergoing sedation for imaging procedures has led to many changes in practice over the past 10 years., Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare and evaluate sedation practice changes in a pediatric radiology department during the last 5 years., Materials and Methods: The radiology computer database and corresponding minutes of the Radiology Sedation Committee were reviewed to identify changes in sedation policy. Data from three blocks of time were analyzed to determine time to sedation, time to discharge, drug frequency, rates of adverse events, sedation failure, and paradoxical reaction., Results: Specific practice changes undertaken over the 5-year period include: (1) increased speed of administration of IV pentobarbital, (2) alternating pentobarbital and fentanyl, (3) presedation with midazolam, and (4) administering oral pentobarbital to children under and (5) over 12 months of age. Based on data analysis, changes 1 and 4 were incorporated into the sedation policy, while changes 2, 3, and 5 were abandoned. Comparison of data from the three time segments revealed improvement in the time to sedation, sedation failure, adverse event, and paradoxical reaction rates., Conclusion: There is improvement in all aspects of patient outcomes with sedation, as a result of several changes in sedation practice.

The typical vascular anomalies (tumors and vascular malformations) that involve the liver in infants and children are summarized. Many of these lesions are complex and require multiple imaging modalities, often including angiography, for precise diagnosis.

Objectives: To define the morphologic abnormalities in patients presenting with diffuse pure venous malformations (VM) of the upper extremity., Subjects and Methods: A retrospective review of MRI and venography was performed on five patients, aged 6 months to 20 years, with extensive VM of the upper limbs. Abnormalities of major conducting veins were categorized as varicosities, stenoses, and asymmetrical pouches; anomalous venous spaces were classified into confluent lakes, interconnecting channels and spongelike plexiform networks. MRI and venographic data were reviewed separately and then simultaneously in order to establish correlation between types, location, and extent of lesions., Results: In all patients, the percentage of replacement of normal tissues by VM was shown by MRI to be significantly higher in the distal limb than in the proximal limb. Involvement of multiple tissue layers was seen in all cases, including, with a decreasing rate, muscles, tendons, interosseous membrane of the forearm, and bone. Venography showed superficial varicosities, frequently associated with stenoses and assymetric pouches in all patients. Interconnecting channels and venous lakes were noted in half of the segments, typically in muscle and other deep locations, and subcutaneous spongelike lesions were seen in two patients. MRI provided a more accurate evaluation of tissue extent. Venograms better demonstrated morphological details and provided more information about the venous drainage. Direct comparison of MR images with venograms helped to identify and characterize venous lesions on cross-sectional MR data., Conclusion: Diffuse VM of the upper extremity are most extensive distally, and all tissues layers can be involved, each with a characteristic morphologic appearance. The morphology of different components of the VM is related to the nature of the surrounding tissue.

Background: Chloral hydrate, a commonly used oral sedative for infants undergoing imaging examinations, has a bitter taste and requires relatively large volume, provoking unpleasant reactions from the infants. Experience with an alternative sedative, oral pentobarbital (Nembutal), has not been reported for infants., Objective: To compare patient acceptance of oral Nembutal and oral chloral hydrate for sedation of infants up to 12 months of age., Methods and Materials: Fifty-four infants (mean age: 7 months) were prospectively enrolled. Parents chose Nembutal, chloral hydrate, or no preference. Thirty-eight infants received Nembutal (4-6 mg/kg) mixed with cherry syrup and 16 received chloral hydrate (50-100 mg/ kg). We recorded infant's acceptance of sedative, parental impression of infant's acceptance, time to sedation, time to discharge, adverse effects, parental preference of future sedative., Results: Infant acceptance and parental impression were better for Nembutal (P < 0.0001). Fewer parents in the Nembutal group preferred another sedative (P = 0.05). There was a trend toward shorter time to discharge with Nembutal (P = 0.03). There were no adverse effects in either group. One infant failed to sedate with Nembutal., Conclusions: Compared with chloral hydrate, oral Nembutal has significantly better acceptance by infants and parents, equal effectiveness, and may result in a shorter time to discharge.

Background: Sedation for diagnostic imaging and interventional radiologic procedures in pediatrics has greatly increased over the past decade. With appropriate patient selection and monitoring, serious adverse effects are infrequent, but failure to sedate and paradoxical reactions do occur., Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine, among patients undergoing sedation for radiologic procedures, the incidence of sedation failure and paradoxical reaction to pentobarbital and to identify potentially correctable causes., Materials and Methods: Records of 1665 patients who were sedated in the radiology department from 1 November 1997 to 1 July 1998 were reviewed. Patients failing sedation or experiencing paradoxical reaction were compared with respect to sex, age group, diagnosis, scan type, time of day, NPO status, use of IV contrast and type of sedation agent using the Fisher exact test, Pearson chi-square, analysis of variance (ANOVA), the Student t-test, and logistic regression., Results: Data analysis revealed a sedation failure rate of 1 % and paradoxical reaction rate of 1.2 %. Stepwise multiple logistic regression revealed that the only significant independent multivariate predictor of failure was the need for the administration of a combination of pentobarbital, fentanyl, and midazolam IV., Conclusion: The low rate of sedation failure and paradoxical reactions to pentobarbital was near optimal and probably cannot be improved with the currently available sedatives.

Purpose. To determine the incidence of neurologic complications of cerebral angiography in children with moyamoya syndrome (MMS) as compared to children without MMS. Materials and methods. One-hundred-ninety consecutive cerebral angiograms obtained in 152 children were evaluated. Sixty of these angiograms were obtained in 40 children with MMS. Patients underwent neurologic evaluation prior to and after the procedure. For this study, a neurologic complication was defined as any new focal neurologic deficit or alteration in mental status occurring during the procedure or within the ensuing 24 hours. Results. There were 2 neurologic complications within 24 hours of angiography, one in the MMS group and one in the non-MMS group. One patient with MMS became mute following angiography. The symptom resolved within 12 hours. One patient without MMS being examined postoperatively for residual arteriovenous malformation developed intracranial hemorrhage requiring reexploration 12 hours after the angiogram. Using a two-tail Fisher's exact test, there was no significant statistical difference in the ischemic (P = 0.3) or hemorrhagic (P = 1.0) complication rates between the group of patients with MMS and the non-MMS groups. Conclusion. The risk of a neurologic complication from cerebral angiography in children with MMS is low and not statistically different from the risk in children with other cerebrovascular disorders.

Background: Childhood moyamoya disease is a rare progressive cerebrovascular disease., Objective: To evaluate cerebral hemodynamics using dynamic Gd-DTPA-enhanced imaging in children with moyamoya disease., Materials and Methods: Eight children (2-11 years of age) with the clinical and angiographic findings typical of moyamoya disease, before and/or after surgical intervention (pial synangiosis), underwent conventional MR imaging (MRI) and hemodynamic MR imaging (HMRI). HMRI used a spoiled gradient-echo with low flip angle (10 deg) and long TE (TR/TE = 24/15 ms) to minimize T 1 effects and emphasize T 2* weighting. Raw and calculated hemodynamic images were reviewed. Three-dimensional time-of-flight MR angiography (MRA) and perfusion brain single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) were also performed., Results: Abnormal hemodynamic maps resulting from vascular stenosis or occlusion and basal collaterals were observed in six patient studies. HMRI depicted perfusion dynamics of affected cerebrovascular territories, detected cortical perfusion deficits, and complemented conventional MRI and MRA. HMRI findings were consistent with those of catheter angiography and perfusion SPECT., Conclusion: Our preliminary experience suggests that HMRI may be of value in the preoperative and postoperative evaluation of surgical interventions in moyamoya disease.

The purpose of this study was to describe the appearance on magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of hepatic hemangioma, and how the appearance changes in infants who have received interferon alpha-2a (IFN) treatment. We retrospectively studied 16 MR examinations in seven infants (mean age 3.2 months; range 5 days to 13 months) who were symptomatic with hepatic hemangiomas. Five of these seven patients had MR examinations both before and after treatment with IFN. In six of the seven patients, the hepatic hemangiomas were multicentric; they were usually discrete, well-defined nodules, best seen on T2-weighted images as high intensity lesions. One patient had a large solitary heterogeneous lesion. They all exhibited fast flow (seen as flow voids on spin-echo images and high signal intensity structures on gradient-recalled echo images) and enlarged hepatic arteries and veins. There was enlargement of the proximal abdominal aorta with distal tapering. Treatment was followed by accelerated regression of the hemangiomas in size and number and variable shrinkage of the enlarged vessels. As the tumor nodules regressed, they were replaced by normal-appearing hepatic parenchyma; neither fat nor fibrosis was detected by MR imaging.

Contrast angiography can demonstrate the vascular components of a vascular malformation, but can be technically challenging in small patients with complex venous anomalies. We reviewed the role of magnetic resonance venography (MRV) in the evaluation of children with predominantly low-flow, vascular malformations of the extremities. MRV (2D time-of-flight technique) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging examinations were performed in ten young patients with congenital predominantly low-flow vascular malformations of the extremities. MR imaging was used to characterize and determine the extent of the malformations, and MRV to evaluate the deep and superficial venous channels. In all patients, MRV studies were reviewed in conjunction with contrast angiograms, considered the gold standard, to confirm the findings. All significant channel anomalies seen with contrast angiography were identified with MRV. In addition, MRV demonstrated some veins that were not intentionally opacified during contrast studies. MRV demonstrates both the superficial and deep conducting veins, whereas contrast angiography is a more directed study, evaluating only those channels intentionally opacified. Together, MR imaging and MRV data can non-invasively form the basis for determining the prognosis and choosing the individual treatment of congenital vascular malformations of the extremities.

Twenty-six cases of developmental retrocerebellar cyst (RCC) formation are studied with respect to determining the usefulness and anatomic relevance of separate terms currently in use, including Dandy-Walker complex, Dandy-Walker malformation, Dandy-Walker variant, mega-cisterna magna (MCM), and Blake's pouch cyst. An anatomic and embryological continuum between Dandy-Walker complex and Blake's pouch cyst is proposed. A method for the useful assessment of RCC is outlined. The patency or closure of the aqueduct is crucial to the evaluation and management of hydrocephalus associated with RCC formation.

One case of horseshoe lung with associated scimitar syndrome is presented. Unusual bronchial and pleural anomalies as delineated by CT and plain chest radiographic imaging are described. The presence of bilateral fissures led to a newly proposed classification of horseshoe lung based on pleural anatomy.

The purpose of this study was to compare the concurrent use of chloral hydrate (CH), intramuscular Nembutal (IMN) and intravenous Nembutal (IVN) for sedation. Data was collected on all pediatric outpatients requiring sedation for CT over a 2.5-year period. During this period, 2178 outpatients required sedation of whom, 1324 (60.8%) received IMN, 710 (32.6%) IVN and 110 (5%) CH. The overall success rate was 97% and was similar in all three groups. IVN however, produced better-quality sedation than IMN or CH. The IVN group received a significantly lower dose of Nembutal than the IMN group (p = 0.001). Patients receiving IVN had a significantly lower induction time (p = 0.0001) and total examination time (p = 0.001) than IMN or CH. There was an increased occurrence of desaturation in patients sedated with IVN, especially in those with airway obstruction. IVN sedation permits faster, more efficient and better-quality sedation for outpatient CT scanning than IMN or CH in patients requiring intravenous contrast but may not be appropriate for departments that perform relatively few sedations or lack proper resuscitation facilities.

A retrospective review was undertaken to determine the incidence of, and radiologic findings associated with aortic rupture resulting from blunt chest trauma in children. Records and imaging data of 54 consecutive pediatric patients admitted over a 2 year period to a pediatric trauma center after sustaining blunt chest trauma were reviewed. Four of 54 (7.4%) had a documented aortic tear. Plain films were evaluated for 7 radiographic signs described in the adult literature as sensitive indicators of aortic rupture, including abnormal aortic contour and mediastinal widening. Two groups of patients were defined: Group 1 (n = 4) had aortic rupture confirmed by angiography or operation and Group 2 (n = 50) with no angiographic investigation. All patients in Group 1 demonstrated mediastinal widening and abnormal aortic contour; however, 50 percent of patients in Group 2 had similar findings. Computed tomograms of the thorax where obtained were reviewed, including 1 patient from Group 1 and 6 patients from Group 2. The aortic tear was well demonstrated in the one patient from Group 1; however, the remaining computed tomograms were deemed inadequate for reliable exclusion of significant aortic injury. Plain chest radiographic findings in 5 consecutive children who underwent aortography in the two years subsequent to this series, including 2 additional patients with aortic rupture, were also reviewed, with similar results. In conclusion, traumatic aortic rupture in the pediatric population may be more common than previously reported. Plain film findings of aortic rupture in children are similar to those in adults, and are sensitive but non-specific. Currently, at least in our institution, this injury may be underinvestigated. Angiography remains the modality of choice in the diagnosis of aortic tears in children.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)