Differential Diagnosis of Intracranial Ectopic Germinomas at Early Stage and Lacunar Infarction by Susceptibility-Weighted Imaging

Xin Lou¹, Lin Ma¹, Chenglin Tian², Ailian Zhang¹, Yulin Wang¹, Zhiye Chen¹

Intracranial germinomas may arise in sites besides pineal and suprasellar regions, which was named intracranial ectopic germinomas (IEGs). Most IEGs at early stage present as lacunar infarct-like or demyelination-like lesions. Because germinomas are highly sensitive to radiotherapy, therefore the early diagnosis is crucial for the treatment. Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) has proved to be more sensitive in detecting early basal ganglia germinoma than conventional MRI. Five patients with early IEGs and six patients with lacunar infarction in basal ganglia were performed SWI and conventional MRI. Our preliminary results revealed SWI is helpful in differentiating early IEGs from lacunar infaction.