Perirectal Cystic Lesions-Comprehensive CT and MRI Findings

Abstract

Perirectal cystic lesions are rare entities, for which only a relatively few research publications are available. These lesions are heterogeneous in nature and can range from benign lesions to malignant lesions; thus, they are sometimes difficult to differentiate. Some studies have reported on retrorectal or presacral cystic lesions, but to our knowledge, there have been only a few reports on perirectal cystic lesions. Cystic lesions arise from the retrorectal space as well as the rectal lumen or adjacent organ, and they should be differentiated based on their characteristics and anatomic location. Thus, we comprehensively studied diseases with a cystic component around the rectum, which are perirectal cystic lesions. A clinical challenge with perirectal cystic lesions is that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish malignant lesions from benign lesions and is thus difficult to determine the extent for surgical excision. We thus attempted to identify benign and malignant imaging features of perirectal cystic lesions.