MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING OF SUBCUTANEOUS DIFFUSE NEUROFIBROMA

A 31-year-old woman presented with increasing pain and tenderness elf a long-standing soft tissue mass on her back. MRI showed a network of interconnecting tubular areas, which were T-1 isointense and T-2 hyper intense relative to skeletal muscle, and displayed marked Gd-DTPA enha ncement. The lesion was situated within the subcutaneous fat. Clinical ly and radiologically, this mass was considered to be a subcutaneous v enous haemangioma. Histological examination of the excised mass showed a diffuse neurofibroma with ectatic vessels and entrapped adipose tis sue. Similar MRI appearances of subcutaneous haemangioma and diffuse n eurofibroma may result in failure to make the correct diagnosis and in inappropriate management.