Osteomas of the skull: comparison of magnetic resonance imaging and histological findings.

Magnetic resonance (MR) images of five patients with osteomas of the skull and six patients with other primary skull tumors were reviewed. All osteomas appeared as low-intensity areas on T1-weighted images. T2-weighted images showed homogeneous low-intensity areas in two dense osteomas, a high-intensity area in one spongy osteoma, and mixed intensity areas in two mixed spongy and dense osteomas, respectively. The signal intensities of osteomas on T2-weighted MR images correlated well with the histological findings. Other skull tumors showed no specific MR imaging appearance.