TY - JOUR T1 - CT and MR Imaging of Giant Cell Granuloma of the Craniofacial Bones JF - American Journal of Neuroradiology JO - Am. J. Neuroradiol. SP - 1651 LP - 1653 VL - 27 IS - 8 AU - J.S. Nackos AU - R.H. Wiggins III AU - H.R. Harnsberger Y1 - 2006/09/01 UR - http://www.ajnr.org/content/27/8/1651.abstract N2 - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Giant cell granuloma (GCG) is a rare lesion. The purpose of this study was to determine the CT characteristics and describe possible MR imaging features of GCG of the craniofacial bones.METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 7 CT studies and 1 MR imaging study of 7 histologically proved cases of GCG in 2 men, 3 women, and 2 patients of unknown gender, aged 12–51 years, during a period of 10 years, from 1995 to 2005.RESULTS: The granulomas predominantly involved the maxilla in 3 patients, the mandible in 2 patients, the temporal bone in 1 patient, and the nasal cavity in 1 patient. These lesions on imaging were expansile masses that demonstrated adjacent bone wall thinning, and most were associated with lytic bone destruction. They were predominantly masses with soft-tissue attenuation on CT scans and may have infiltrated the surrounding soft-tissue structures. The patient with an MR imaging had a lesion that was hypointense on both T1- and T2-weighted MR images. The lesions revealed avid homogeneous contrast enhancement.CONCLUSION: The imaging features of GCG are nonspecific. However, this entity should be included in the differential diagnosis of expansile lesions in the craniofacial bones. ER -