Cavernous angioma of the middle fossa: a case report and characteristic MRI findings.

Cavernous angioma of the middle fossa is a rare lesion that is considered to originate from the cavernous sinus. Because of its profuse bleeding during surgery, it is crucial to make the correct diagnosis before an operation is performed. We report here a case of cavernous angioma occurring in the right middle fossa. MRI demonstrated an extracerebral mass extending from the middle cranial fossa into the cavernous sinus which showed low signal intensity on T1-weighted images and high signal intensity on T2-weighted images. Right carotid angiography demonstrated a faint vascular stain supplied by the meningohypophysial trunk. These findings suggested an extradural cavernous angioma originating from the cavernous sinus and extending into the middle-fossa.