Ecchordosis Physaliphora-MRI & CT

Ecchordosis physaliphora is a rare congenital, benign, hamartomatous, retroclival mass derived from notochordal tissue that is typically located intradurally in the prepontine cistern. Ecchordosis physaliphora is usually asymptomatic. In rare cases, ecchordosis physaliphora can be symptomatic due to tumor expansion and compression of the surrounding structures and
extratumoral hemorrhage. Only one previous case of such a lesion with associated bleed is described in Turkish Neurosurgery 2009, Vol: 19, No: 3, 293-296. The differential diagnosis of EP also includes chordoma, dermoid, epidermoid, arachnoid cysts and partially thrombosed vertebrobasilar aneurysm. When a retroclival mass is established on MRI, any associated osseous stalk should be evaluated on thin-section CT as in our case which is classical for the diagnosis of Ecchordosis Physaliphora. This is 30 year old female with T1 and T2 hyperintense lesion in prepontine and retroclival region on MRI with no significant enhancement
Reported by Teleradiology Providers