Aunt Minnies Radio Signs

Question 1

Answer 1

Caput medusae sign
-Thecaput medusae signis seen in patients with severeportal hypertension. It describes the appearance of distended and engorged paraumbilical veins, which are seen radiating from the umbilicus across the abdomen to join the systemic veins.

Question 2

Answer 2

Chasing the dragonsign
Chasing the dragonsignis seen intoxic leukoencephalopathycaused by the inhalation of heroin fumes.

Question 3

Answer 3

Marijuana(cannabisorbong)lung
Marijuana(cannabisorbong)lungrefers to the presence of large apicalbullaein patients who regularly smoke marijuana. A definite causative link between smoking marijuana and bullous lung disease has not been established, and the association may just be coincidental.

Question 4

Answer 4

Nasal septal perforation
Nasal septal perforationmay affect either the bony, or cartilaginous septum. Most commonly it affects the anterior septal cartilaginous area although withsyphilisit characteristically affects the bony septum.

Question 5

Answer 5

Claw sign
The claw sign ondiffusion weightedimagingrefers to a pattern of hyperintensity seen in degenerative changes in the spine. The presence of the claw sign makesspondylodiscitisless likely.

Question 6

Answer 6

Cobblestone appearance
Cobblestoning(having acobblestone appearance)can occur in a number of hollow organs with mucosa, most commonly the bowel, in the setting ofCrohn disease.
Longitudinal and circumferential fissures and ulcers separate islands of mucosa, giving it an appearance reminiscent of cobblestones.
Cobblestone appearance has been reported in:
Crohn disease: small and large bowel
candida esophagitis1
Hirschsprung disease4
eosinophilic gastritis5
duodenitis
Brunner gland hyperplasiaof the duodenum5
nodular lymphoid hyperplasiain duodenal cap

Question 7

Answer 7

Cobweb sign
Thecobweb signis seen in cases ofarterial dissection(usuallyaortic dissection) on CT angiogram (CTA) examinations and represents strands or ribbons of media crossing the false lumen, and appearing as thin filiform filling defects.
Although it is a specific sign for the false lumen, it is infrequently seen (thus low sensitivity).

Question 8

Answer 8

Coca-Cola bottle sign
TheCoca-Cola bottle signrefers to the appearance of the muscles of the orbit inthyroid eye disease. The belly of the muscle enlarges with sparing of the tendinous insertion, giving the appearance of the traditional Coca-Cola bottle.

Question 9

Answer 9

Cockade sign
Thecockade signdescribes the classic appearance of a calcanealintraosseous lipomaseen as a well-defined lytic lesion with a central calcification.

Question 10

Answer 10

Codman triangle
Codman triangleis a type ofperiosteal reactionseen with aggressive bone lesions. With aggressive lesions, the periosteum does not have time to ossify with shells of new bone (e.g. as seen insingle layerandmultilayeredperiosteal reaction), so only the edge of the raised periosteum will ossify.
The Codman triangle may be seen with aggressive lesions:
osteosarcoma
Ewing sarcoma
osteomyelitis
activeaneurysmal bone cyst
giant cell tumor
metastasis
chondrosarcoma(especiallyjuxtacortical chondrosarcoma)
malignant fibrous histiocytoma

Question 11

Answer 11

Cogwheel sign
Thecogwheel sign refers to an imaging appearance in pelvic imaging of thickening loops of theFallopian tubeseen on cross-section. There are infolding projections (sometimes looking like nodules) into the Fallopian tube lumen which is likened to that of a cogwheel. The sign is typically described on ultrasound and is indicative oftubal inflammationinpelvic inflammatory diseasewith apyosalpinxor ahydrosalpinx.

Question 12

Answer 12

Coin lesion
Coin lesionrefers to a round or oval, well-circumscribedsolitary pulmonary lesion.It is usually 1-5 cm in diameter and calcification may or may not be present1,3. Typically but not always the patient is asymptomatic1.

Question 13

Answer 13

Colon cut-off sign
Colon cut-off signdescribes gaseous distension seen in proximal colon associated with narrowing of the splenic flexure in cases ofacute pancreatitis. Though originally described in abdominal radiographs, this sign has also been demonstrated in contrast enemas and computed tomography1.

Question 14

Answer 14

Comb sign
Thecomb signrefers to the hypervascular appearance of the mesentery in activeCrohn disease.Fibrofatty proliferation and perivascular inflammatory infiltration outline the distended intestinal arcades. This forms linear densities on the mesenteric side of the affected segments of small bowel, which give the appearance of the teeth of a comb.

Question 15

Answer 15

Comet tail sign
Thecomet tail signis a finding that can be seen on CT scans of the chest. It consists of a curvilinear opacity that extends from a subpleural “mass” toward the ipsilateral hilum. The comet tail sign is produced by the distortion of vessels and bronchi that lead to an adjacent area ofround atelectasis, which is the mass. The bronchovascular bundles appear to be pulled into the mass and resemble a comet tail.

Question 16

Answer 16

Comet-tail artifact
Thecomet-tail artifactis agrey-scale ultrasoundfinding seen when small calcific / crystalline / highly reflective objects are interrogated and is believed to be a special form ofreverberation artifact.

Question 17

Answer 17

Comet tail sign
Comet tail sign(in urological imaging) is helpful in distinguishing aureteric calculusfrom aphlebolithand strongly favours the latter.
The sign refers to a tail of soft tissue extending from a calcification, representing the collapsed/scarred/thrombosed parent vein. When well seen it is said to have a positive predictive value of 100%1.

Question 18

Answer 18

Color comet-tail artifact
Thecolor comet-tail artifactis an ultrasonographic sign seen in a number of situations when color Doppler scanning is performed.
Typically the artifact, which resembles the grey-scalecomet-tail artifact, is seen in a situation when a small highly reflective (usually calcific) object is interrogated with color Doppler.Twinkling artifactoccurs and immediately deep to the object a tail of linear aliased band of color extends away from the probe.

Question 19

Answer 19

Coffee-bean sign
Thecoffee-bean sign(also known as thekidney bean signorbent inner tube sign4) is a sign on an abdominal plain radiograph of asigmoid volvulusalthough some authors have also used the term to refer to closed loop small bowel obstructions.Cecal volvulusmay be mistaken with sigmoid volvulus and the number of air-fluid levels help in differentiating the two entities. In cecal volvulus only one air-fluid level is seen compared to sigmoid volvulus with a few air-fluid levels4.

Question 20

Answer 20

Cobra head sign
Thecobra head sign, also known as thespring onion sign, refers to dilatation of the distal ureter, surrounded by a thin lucent line, which is seen in patients with an adult-typeureterocoele. The cobra head appearance indicates an uncomplicated ureterocele.
The lucent “hood” of the cobra represents the combined thickness of the ureteral wall and prolapsed bladder mucosa, outlined by contrast material within the bladder lumen.

Question 21

Answer 21

Cloverleaf skull
Cloverleaf skull,also known askleeblattschädel, refers to a type of severecraniosynostosiswhich gives the skull a cloverleaf shape. It is very rare, with less than 130 case reports globally.It typically results from intrauterine premature closure of thesagittal,coronalandlambdoidsutures, through which the cranial contents bulge, giving rise to the characteristic trilobate shape (hence the name).
It is usually seen in the context of the following conditions:
thanatophoric dysplasia: classically type II only
severeApert syndrome
severeCrouzon syndrome
Boston-type craniosynostosis
Carpenter syndrome

Question 22

Answer 22

Cloaca
Acloaca(pl. cloacae/cloacas) can be found in chronicosteomyelitis.
The cloaca is an opening in aninvolucrumwhich allows drainage of purulent and necrotic material out of the dead bone. If the tract extends to the skin surface, the portion extending beyond the involucrum to the skin surface is called asinus tract1.

Question 23

Answer 23

Cingulate sulcus sign
Thecingulate sulcus signhas been proposed as being useful as an MRI feature of idiopathicnormal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH). It denotes the posterior part of thecingulate sulcusbeing narrower than the anterior part. The divider between the anterior and posterior parts of the sulcus being a line drawn parallel to the floor of the 4th ventricle1.

Question 24

Answer 24

Claw sign
Theclaw signis useful in determining that a mass arises from a solid structure rather than is located adjacent to it and distorts the outline.
It refers to the sharp angles on either side of the mass,which the surrounding normal parenchyma forms when the mass has arisen from the parenchyma. As such, normal parenchyma extends some way around the mass.
Examples where a claw sign is useful include:
meningiomavsintra-axial brain tumor
Wilms tumorvsneuroblastoma
renal angiomyolipomavsretroperitoneal liposarcoma

Question 25

Answer 25

Chorionic bump Chorionic bump is a finding that can be uncommonly seen in a first-trimester scan. It may represent a small hematoma bulging into the gestational sac or an anembryonic (failed) second pregnancy that is being resorbed. It is also seen in some patients undergoing infertility treatment.

Question 26

Answer 26

Cheerio sign Cheerio sign in thoracic imaging relates to pulmonary nodules with a central lucent cavity as seen on CT. It is due to proliferation of (malignant or non-malignant) cells around an airway. They are so named because of their resemblance to the breakfast cereal, Cheerios 1-2.  The Cheerio sign (pulmonary nodule) may be due to 2:  lung adenocarcinoma (malignant) pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (non-malignant) pulmonary meningothelial-like nodules (non-malignant, rare) Cavitating lung nodules are a differential diagnosis for the Cheerio sign 2:  infection (fungal or mycobacterial) primary lung cancer pulmonary metastases rheumatoid nodule granulomatosis with polyangiitis

Question 27

Answer 27

Dilated cardiomyopathy Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is defined as left ventricular chamber dilation with decreased systolic function (FEVG <40%). There may also be right ventricular dysfunction. Causes are related to intrinsic myocardial damage.

Question 28

Answer 28

Chilaiditi sign Chilaiditi sign refers to the interposition of bowel, usually colon, between the inferior surface of the right hemidiaphragm and the superior surface of the liver. It may be misinterpreted as a true pneumoperitoneum resulting in unnecessary further investigations and/or therapy (so-called pseudopneumoperitoneum). The presence of pain associated with and attributed to the sign is termed Chilaiditi syndrome.

Question 29

Answer 29

Crack lung Crack lung is a term used to describe one of the respiratory complications of smoked crack cocaine.

Question 30

Answer 30

Champagne glass pelvis The champagne glass pelvis is a helpful sign in achondroplasia in which the iliac blades are flattened, giving rise to a pelvic inlet that resembles a champagne glass. The acetabular angles are flattened (horizontal) and the sacrosciatic notch is small.

Question 31

Answer 31

Body packing Body packing refers to the internal concealment of drugs within the gastrointestinal tract or other orifices. People who do this may be called body packers, (drug) mules, stuffers, couriers or swallowers. Drugs may be concealed within condoms, foil, latex or cellophane. 

Question 32

Answer 32

Celery stalk sign The celery stalk sign is a term given to the appearance of the anterior cruciate ligament which has undergone mucoid degeneration and has been likened to that of a celery stalk. Its low signal longitudinal fibers are separated from each other by higher signal mucinous material, best appreciated on T2 weighted images.

Question 33

Answer 33

Cervicothoracic sign The cervicothoracic sign, a variation of the silhouette sign, refers to visualization of a lesion above the level of the clavicle, indicating the abnormality is located posteriorly. The anterior mediastinum ends at the level of the clavicles. Thus, the upper border of an anterior mediastinal lesion cannot extend above the clavicles. Any lesion with a discernible upper border above that level must be located posteriorly in the chest, i.e. apical segments of upper lobes, pleura, or posterior mediastinum 3.

Question 34

Answer 34

Celery stalk metaphysis  Celery stalk metaphysis refers to a plain film appearance of the metaphyses in a number of conditions characterized by longitudinally aligned linear bands of sclerosis. They are seen in: congenital infections congenital rubella congenital syphilis congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) osteopathia striata

Question 35

Answer 35

Centipede sign The centipede sign is seen as engorged mesenteric vessels in cases of acute sigmoid diverticulitis which gives an appearance similar to a centipede 1.

Question 36

Answer 36

"Cervix Sign" -Congenital Hypertrophic Pyloric Stenosis - stenosis describes indentation of the pylorus into the fluid-filled antrum.

Question 37

Answer 37

Caton-Deschamps index The Caton-Deschamps index is a ratio that is used in everyday practice as well as in research to measure patellar height and allows the diagnosis of patella alta and patella baja. Radiographic features The Caton-Deschamps index is the ratio between the distance between the lower pole of the patella and the upper limit of the tibia, and the length of the patellar joint surface. normal range 0.6-1.3 patella baja: <0.6 patella alta: >1.3

Question 38

Answer 38

Cartilage interface sign Cartilage interface sign, also referred to as double cortex sign, refers to the sonographic presence of a thin markedly hyperechoic line at the interface between the normally hypoechoic hyaline articular cartilage of the humeral head and an abnormally hypoechoic supraspinatus tendon. This arises due to the marked difference in acoustic impedances of the two tissues at the interface 1. The sign indicates the presence of partial or complete supraspinatus tear with fluid replacing the fibers and has been shown to be 100% specific 2.  However, it is not often present and has a low sensitivity for supraspinatus tear, around 30% 2.

Question 39

Answer 39

Carman meniscus sign The Carman meniscus sign describes the lenticular shape of barium in cases of large and flat gastric ulcers, in which the inner margin is convex toward the lumen. It usually indicates a malignant ulcerated neoplasm; in cases of benign gastric ulcers, the inner margin is usually concave toward the lumen 1. Carman meniscus sign is seen after compression of a gastric tumor that surrounds the lesser curvature thus apposing both surfaces of the surrounding tumor and entrapping contrast between these margins causing a semilunar configuration 2,3.