title: Petrous apex lesions in the pediatric population.
abstract: A variety of abnormal imaging findings of the petrous apex are encountered in children. Many petrous apex lesions are identified incidentally while images of the brain or head and neck are being obtained for indications unrelated to the temporal bone. Differential considerations of petrous apex lesions in children include "leave me alone" lesions, infectious or inflammatory lesions, fibro-osseous lesions, neoplasms and neoplasm-like lesions, as well as a few rare miscellaneous conditions. Some lesions are similar to those encountered in adults, and some are unique to children. Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) and primary and metastatic pediatric malignancies such as neuroblastoma, rhabomyosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma are more likely to be encountered in children. Lesions such as petrous apex cholesterol granuloma, cholesteatoma and chondrosarcoma are more common in adults and are rarely a diagnostic consideration in children. We present a comprehensive pictorial review of CT and MRI appearances of pediatric petrous apex lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA, rupa.rad@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rupa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Radhakrishnan
authors.forename: Hwa Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Son
authors.forename: Bernadette L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Koch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D059925:Anatomic Landmarks / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D001847:Bone Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D010579:Petrous Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*