Chondrosarcoma

Findings:

A slightly expansile enhancing mass with bone destruction involves the left petrous apex with minimal extent into the pontomedullary cistern.

Differential Diagnosis/Discussion:

The differential diagnosis of a petrous apex lesion can be narrowed by the presence of enhancement, expansile characteristics, and bone destruction. The presence of all three of these features indicates a likely neoplastic process for which metastasis, lymphoma, or chondrosarcoma could be considered. In this case, no specific findings differentiate between the three. A chordoma would be expected to be more midline in position. Other type of primary bone tumor might appear similar. If the lesion did not show enhancement, a cholesterol granuloma could be considered.

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