MR imaging in the diagnosis of a retroperitoneal schwannoma

Abstract The computerized tomography (CT) and ultrasound characteristics of many of the primary retroperitoneal tumors are nonspecific, and thus preoperative diagnosis of these tumors is difficult. We describe a case of a retroperitoneal schwannoma in which the multiplanar capability of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provided anatomic information not obtainable by other modalities and helped to suggest the neural origin of the tumor.