Symptomatic capillary telangiectasia of the pons: three pediatric cases diagnosed by suspectibility-weighted imaging.

Introduction: Brain capillary telangiectasias (BCT) are small, clinically benign, usually asymptomatic and rarely seen lesions during childhood. Large symptomatic BCT during childhood are extremely rare, with only a few reports in the literature. They usually cannot be detected easily on conventional magnetic resonance imaging and angiography.
Methods: We present the first pediatric case series of large pontine BCT presenting with distinct symptoms and in whom the lesions were detected by susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), for the first time to date. SWI provides a crucial imaging modality for BCT.
Results: We suggest that the combination of signal intensity loss on SWI and focal enhancement in a lesion otherwise not seen on conventional MR images is diagnostic for BCT and serves to discard serious differential diagnoses with high specificity, reassuring patients and referring physicians.
Conclusion: We would like to emphasize clinical and radiological findings of BCT and utility of SWI images on MRI for the confirmation of diagnosis in the pediatric age group.