FIBROMYXOMA OF THE RETROPHARYNGEAL SPACE - MR APPEARANCE WITH PATHOLOGICAL CORRELATION

A 19-year-old woman reported difficulties in swallowing and breathing. A submucosal mass, shown by MR imaging in the retropharyngeal space, was the cause of her symptoms. Histologically, the mass proved to be a fibromyxoma. The oval well-delineated lesion appeared hypointense rel ative to muscle and strongly enhanced after injection of contrast mate rial on T1-weighted images; on T2-weighted images, it appeared hyperin tense, and was seen to contain fibrous septa, which were hypointense o n all sequences. This case delineates the characteristic MR features o f a fibrous component within a rare benign tumor of the retropharyngea l space.