Mickey Mouse Sign

Mickey Mouse Sign

A term of art referring to a central spherical structure with two daughter spheres attached to the mother at oblique angles, which has been likened to Mickey’s silhouette; in some cases, the sign/landmark more closely simulates ‘Mickey Mouse ears’, a hat worn by members of the Mickey Mouse Club, a US TV program. This is not an uncommon finding in various imaging modalities, judging from the Mickey Mouses listed here.
Imaging-Bone A term referring to an occasional finding in Paget’s disease of bone, resulting from an increased uptake of radiopharmaceutical in the vertebral body—Mickey’s head—and spinous processes—his ears. This appears to have been previously reported in a large series as the T sign or champagne glass sign. The value of adding a new name is uncertain
Imaging-Kidney Mickey Mouse sign is a fanciful term for bilateral hydronephrosis in children on a plain film which is best visualised by excretory urography, where the ‘ears’ correspond to the massively dilated ureters and the face to the bladder itself
Imaging-Liver/Gallbladder This Mickey sign refers to a normal landmark observed when evaluating the size of the common bile duct; in a transverse plane, the bile duct and hepatic artery correspond to the left and right ears, respectively, and the portal vein to Mickey’s head
Imaging-Obstetrics This Mickey sign is seen by ultrasonography in first trimester anencephaly. The cerebral hemispheres are present and exposed to the surrounding amniotic fluid, imparting an ultrasonographic appearance in the coronal section of the head 'best described as Mickey Mouse face'. It was found in 5 of the 6 cases of anencephaly reported in Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology 2003
Paediatrics Sometimes images of Mickey Mouse are just that—there have been cases of Mickey Mouse toys, key rings, etc., being swallowed by children