Solitary Fibrous Tumor of the Parapharyngeal Space: MR Imaging Findings

Summary: We report the MR imaging findings of a solitary fibrous tumor involving the parapharyngeal space. The tumor was a well-circumscribed solid mass with a lobulated contour. It had the same signal intensity as the muscle on T1-weighted MR images, heterogeneously high signal in-tensity on T2-weighted images, and homogeneous strong enhancement after the administration of contrast material. It mimicked a tumor originating from the deep lobe of the parotid gland. Solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) is an uncommon spin-dle cell tumor that usually occurs in the pleura. Re-cently, the presence of these tumors was reported in a number of extrapleural sites, including the head and neck. The parapharyngeal space is a rare location for a SFT (1). We describe the MR imaging findings in