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Hypertrophic crista galli with bone marrow

Case contributed by Gennaro D'Anna
Diagnosis almost certain

Presentation

Headache. Previously reported "intracranial lipoma".

Patient Data

Age: 25 years
Gender: Female

Ovoidal hyperintense structure on T2W images in anterior cranial fossa, between the olfactory sulci. It demonstrates a drop of signal on T2W fat-saturated images.

The lesion found on MRI demonstrates an outer thin bony layer on CT images.

Case Discussion

The crista galli is a median bony structure of the anterior cranial fossa. The function is to give attach to the anterior edge of the falx cerebri.

Mostly is a very thin structure, but sometimes it can be thicker, with pneumatization or the presence of fat-like tissue, like in this case. This tissue corresponds to fatty bone marrow.

It is important to recognize this anatomical variant, to avoid false pathological descriptions (e.g. lipoma).

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