Imaging diagnosis of abdominal bronchogenic cyst

Objective: To determine the image characteristics of abdominal bronchogenic cyst. Methods: The clinical findings and CT/MRI manifestations of 9 patients with pathologically confirmed extrapulmonary bronchogenic cysts were retrospectively analyzed. The patients underwent CT without (2) or with (7) contrast enhancement as well as MRI (2). Results: Lesions were located in the abdomen and pelvis including gastric cardia and fundus (5), left adrenal gland (3), sacrum and coccyx (1). The lesions were round, elliptical or irregular cystic masses measuring 2.0-10.7 cm in diameter (average: 4.9 cm) with CT densities of 20-60 HU (8) or less than 20 HU (1), marginal calcification (5), no (8) or mural (1) contrast enhancement. On MRI, the cysts were T₁ iso-or hypo-intense and T₂ hyperintense. Conclusion: CT/MRI characteristics combined with comprehensive clinical analysis can aid the diagnosis of extrapulmonary bronchogenic cysts. (authors)