An Overview of Clival Lesions

Objective: Clival lesions are rare and are most often insidious at onset. Presenting symptoms may be minor or absent. Therefore, careful attention to this area on imaging is necessary for early diagnosis. Understanding the various clival lesions and pathologies that may occur in this region in addition to their radiologic findings is key.

Methods: Institution-wide radiology report search engine, yielding studies imaging the clival pathologies. Both CT and MRI images as well as clinical documents were reviewed.

Findings: The normal anatomy of the clivus and its relation to nearby structures will be described in addition to normal radiologic features and variants. The embryology and normal development will also briefly be reviewed to better understand the most common pathologies. We will then review the differential diagnosis of clival lesions and describe common radiologic characteristics. Furthermore, we will discuss approaches to treatment of these lesions as well as the role of imaging in management.

Conclusion: Clival lesions are rare and usually insidious at onset. The radiologist must be familiar with lesions in this region of the skull base and be able to provide a reliable differential diagnosis. They must also be able to give appropriate recommendations to help guide management of these lesions ([Fig. 1]).

Fig. 1

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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
15. Februar 2022