Ossified and de novo cavernous malformations in the same patient.

We report the case of a 44-year-old patient with a MRI scan showing a newly developed cavernoma after two highly calcified lesions had been excised surgically. Six other cavernous malformations had been followed by MR imaging over a 2-year period. The coexistence of the two extremes of cavernous malformations in terms of lesions development--de novo and ossified lesions has not been reported previously and has implications for both the follow-up and the natural history of these malformations. The potential for developing new cavernous malformations persists and does not seem to be related to the evolutional stage of pre-existing lesions. It is suggested that these patients need to be followed up by MRI on a regular basis.