imaging of endocrine diseases Flashcards
where is the pituitary gland found?
-in the sella turcica
what lies immediately superior to the pituitary gland?
-optic chiasma
what lies immediately lateral to the pituitary gland?
carotid arteries
what connects the pituitary gland to the brain?
infundibulum (pituitary stalk)
what affect can pituitary tumour have on vision?
-due to optic chiasm lying immediately superior to the pituitary gland a pituitary tumour may press on optic chiasma and cause bilateral peripheral vision loss
what imaging is usually used to see the thyroid gland?
- USS
- CT
what would suggest Graves disease on a thyroid scintigraphy?
> 3% total tracer uptake in gland
what does homogeneously reduced tracer uptake in the thyroid suggest?
thyroiditis
what does focal uptake in right upper pole of the thyroid suggest? (more uptake in one part of gland and suppressed uptake in another part)
-multinodular goitre with dominant nodule
what imaging technique is used to see adrenal glands?
- CT
- MRI
what does the right adrenal gland lie posterior to?
the inferior vena cava
what does the lest adrenal gland lie lateral to?
the aorta
what is pheochromocytoma?
-an uncommon tumour of the adrenal gland
what condition is associated with brittle bones?
-osteoperosis
what conditions is associated with soft bones?
- Pagets
- ricketts
- osteomalacia
what are bones prone to do in osteoperosis?
-brittle bones in osteoperosis are prone to fracture
who is most commonly affected by osteoperosis?
- post menopausal females
- patients on certain steroids
- anorexics
what places are more prone to fracture in brittle bones?
- proximal femur
- sacrum and pubic rami
- thoracolumbar vertebral bodies
- distal radius
what often occurs to soft bones?
-they end up deformed
what causes rickets?
-vitamin D deficiency
how does rickets present on an Xray?
- irregular, flared metaphyses
- widened growth plates
- bone deformity
what causes vitamin D deficiency?
-osteomalacia
how does osteomalacia present on an Xray?
- bone deformity
- poor cortico medullary differentiation
how does Paget’s disease present on Xray?
Initial lytic phase:
-well defined lucency
Latter sclerotic phase:
- enlarged bone
- increased density
- coarse trabecular pattern
what is Pagets disease?
-a disease that causes increased bone turnover with unknown cause
what does a lytic bone abnormality mean?
-there is bone destruction causing the bone to be less dense
what does a sclerotic bone abnormality mean?
-it means the bone increases in density due to bone formation
what is usually lose in a bone with lytic destruction?
- loss of tuberculae
- loss of inner cortex
- loss of cortices
