Fig 2. Imaging findings of a 55-year-old woman with a calcified pineal gland.

(A), CT shows a sharply defined oval-shaped pineal calcification with a diameter of 11 mm. In axial T1-weighted MRI (B) and in axial T2-weighted MRI (C) it is hardly possible to demarcate the calcified area against the surrounding tissue. In conventional MRI, it is not possible to reliably identify the hypointense foci as calcifications. The inverted SWMR magnitude image (D) and the phase image (E) show well-defined focal hyperintensities in the pineal region area. While the image information solely derived from the magnitude image is not superior to conventional MRI sequences, the combination of SWMR magnitude and phase image allows for a clear and reliable identification of diamagnetic calcifications. Magnified images are provided for (B), (C), (D) and (E). As CT and MRI of the brain have diverged reference lines with the bicommissural line used as a convenience standard for MRI and the orbitomeatal line used for CT, the slice angles vary accordingly.