CAVERNOUS SINUS HEMANGIOMA - CLINICAL AND NEUROIMAGING FEATURES

A patient presented with an isolated left sixth nerve palsy. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a sharply marginated 3 cm lesion in the lef t cavernous sinus, which was isointense to gray matter on T1-weighted images, hyperintense on T2-weighted images, and enhanced with paramagn etic contrast material. Cerebral angiography showed a homogeneous blus h fed by an enlarged meningohypophyseal artery. The neuroimaging findi ngs were thought to be most consistent with the diagnosis of a caverno us sinus meningioma. At the time of surgery, a vascular mass was encou ntered, and a biopsy was consistent with a cavernous hemangioma. This report describes the clinical and neuroimaging features of cavernous s inus hemangiomas that may help to differentiate them from other cavern ous sinus lesions.