Objective: To test the specificity for demyelination of a new neuroimaging
sign: contrast enhancement shaped as an open ring or a crescent circumscrib
ed to the white matter. Background: Brain demyelination can cause ring enha
ncement mimicking neoplasm or infection on CT or MRI. Methods: A MEDLINE se
arch of pathology-proved demyelination yielded 32 illustrated cases of ring
-enhancing lesions published between 1981 and 1995. Controls consisted of t
he same number of published images of neoplasms and infections, pathology p
roved, and matched by year of publication, and age and gender of the patien
t. Two neuroradiologists read the images twice independently 1 year apart.
Results: Interrater agreement was good (kappa = 0.64 and 0.66 for either re
ading). Test-retest reliability was high (kappa = 0.75 and 0.74 for either
rater). The open-ring sign clearly distinguished demyelinating lesions from
neoplasms and infections. For demyelination versus neoplasm or infection,
the specificity of the reading by the first neuroradiologist was 93.8 (95%
CI, 86 to 98), and that of the second was 84.4 (95% CI, 74 to 92). The like
lihood ratio of demyelination versus neoplasm averaged 5.2, and versus infe
ction, 17.2. That is, if the lesions had the same incidence in the populati
on, in the presence of an open-ring sign demyelination would be five times
more likely than neoplasm and 17 times more likely than infection. However,
given the much higher incidence of neoplasms and infections, these lesions
are still frequently responsible for open-ring enhancement. Conclusions: T
he open-ring sign is often present in large, contrast-enhancing demyelinati
ng lesions and helps to differentiate them from neoplasms and infections.