Imaging features of sinonasal tumors on positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging including diffusion weighted imaging: A pictorial review

Abstract

Introduction: Sinonasal inflammatory conditions account for a major component of head and neck pathologies, whereas neoplasms involving the sinonasal region make up only 2-3% of all head and neck lesions. The symptoms of sinonasal tumors are nonspecific; imaging plays a critical role in distinguishing benign and malignant disease and may illustrate characteristic radiological features of specific sinonasal tumors.

Objective: Aim was to determine the utilization of multimodality imaging, specifically the metabolic information provided by 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT) and diffusivity characteristics seen with diffusion weighted images (DWI) of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in a wide range of benign and malignant sinonasal tumors drawn from over 200 sinonasal lesions from our institution and supplemented by the literature.

Conclusion: In this pictorial essay, we have reviewed common imaging characteristics of frequently encountered in sinonasal tumors and divided them into benign and malignant categories to facilitate creation of focused differential diagnoses.

Keywords: Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic resonance imaging; Multislice computed tomography; Paranasal sinus neoplasms; Positron emission tomography.