"Flow-void" sign at MR imaging: A rare finding of extracranial head and neck schwannomas

Abstract

The authors present two cases of extracranial head and neck schwannomas that exhibited the "flow-void" sign at MR imaging. In the described cases, MR images showed intratumoral signal voids, which corresponded to dilated vessels. Dynamic contrast-enhanced CT also demonstrated dilated vessels within the tumors on the arterial phase and tumor parenchymal enhancement on the delayed phase. Histopathologic examinations of excised specimens revealed thin-walled, dilated abnormal vessels with or without hyaline degeneration. Schwannoma should be considered when MR images demonstrate the "flow-void" sign in extracranial head and neck tumors. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.