HASTE magnetic resonance imaging of a squamous cell temporal bone carcinoma

Abstract

Squamous cell carcinoma of the temporal bone (SCC) is a malignancy originated from epidermis spinous cells. Its low incidence and similar presentation to cholesteato- mas, contributes to its late diagnosis. The most widely used study for this tumor is com- puted tomography (CT), which mainly evidences erosion of the temporal bone. There are several other diagnoses, malignant and benign, that could provoke similar findings at the CT. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a method of great value to study SCC. MRI with HASTE diffusion sequence has recently emerged as an important tool in the study of temporal bone pathologies, such as cholesteatoma and middle ear teratoma, despite this, there are no reports in the literature of the imaging presentation of SCC using this method. This article presents a clinical case of a patient with SCC, in whose preoperative study was performed HASTE-MRI. Although a larger number of cases are required to establish an imaging pattern, it is concluded that this technique is useful to differentiate this tumor from middle ear cholesteatomas.