Venous angiomas: plain and contrast-enhanced MRI and MR angiography.

We studied 17 patients with venous angiomas, 4 of whom had associated cavernous angiomas. All underwent MRI with spin-echo T1- and T2-weighted images and T1-weighted images after Gd-DTPA; MR angiography (MRA) was also performed with 3D and 2D time-of-flight technique; 5 patients underwent conventional angiography. Contrast-enhanced MRI demonstrated all the lesions, showing the peripheral medullary veins, the collector and the type of drainage. Both 3D and 2D MRA provided diagnostic information identical to that obtained after infusion of Gd-DTPA. Contrast-enhanced were T1-weighted images and MRA superior in all the cases to images without gadolinium. The possible association with cavernous angiomas (24% in our study) indicates T2-weighted imaging.