MRI OF SPINAL EPIDURAL LYMPHOMA

We reviewed the MRI features in eight patients with spinal epidural ly mphoma (clinically primary in 4 patients); one patient had multiple le sions. The cervical spine was involved in one patient, the thoracolumb ar spine in 5 and the sacrum in two. Mean longitudinal extension of th e epidural lesion was 2.6 vertebral segments. The tumours were homogen eously isointense with the spinal cord on T1-weighted images and isoin tense or hyperintense on proton-density and T2-weighted images. The sp inal cord was compressed in four patients but showed signal changes in only one. In five patients the lesions communicated through the inter vertebral foramina with paravertebral soft tissue masses. In all but o ne of the patients diffuse signal changes in the vertebral body marrow consistent with osteolytic or osteoblastic changes were identified ad jacent to or at distance from the epidural lesion. Vetebral collapse w as observed in two patients.