Meningocele

  • Etiology: failure of closure of posterior neural tube
  • Imaging: meninges herniates into sac
  • Clinical: overt not skin covered spinal dysraphism

Radiology Cases of Cervical Meningocele

MRI of cervical meningocele
Axial (above left) and sagittal (below left) T1 and axial (above right) and sagittal (below right) T2 MRI without contrast of the cervical spine show a midline occipital mass which is not covered with subcutaneous fat that contains fluid centrally and which communicates via a thin tract to a protruding CSF space just below and contiguous to the cisterna magna through a discontinuity in the subcutaneous fat.

Radiology Cases of Lumbar Meningocele

MRI of meningocele
Sagittal (above left) and axial (above right) T1 MRI without contrast of the spine shows a posterior defect at the S2 level that allows the spinal canal to communicate with a cyst that is not covered by skin or subcutaneous fat. Sagittal (below left) and axial (below right) T2 MRI shows the cyst does not contain any neural tissue.