Clinical implications of splenium magnetic resonance imaging signal changes.
BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may show discrete splenium abnormalities; however, the implications of this radiologic finding are unclear. OBJECTIVE: To describe causes, clinical presentations, and prognoses of midline splenium changes evident on MRI. DESIGN: Retrospective case series. SETTING: Teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Medical records of 9 patients with MRI-noted splenium changes were studied; 60 additional published cases were accessed. INTERVENTIONS: Sixty-nine cases were reviewed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinical and imaging findings, causes, and prognosis. RESULTS: Confusion (35 patients), ataxia (25 patients), and recent seizure (23 patients) were common. Causes included alcohol use, infections, hypoglycemia, trauma, salt abnormalities, and seizure. Twenty-eight patients had complete resolution, 23 improved, and 1 died. Diffusion-weighted imaging showed splenium abnormalities the best. Eleven of 12 patients showed decrease in apparent diffusion coefficient. Most improved clinically, as did their subsequent MRI studies. CONCLUSIONS: Midline splenium changes are commonly seen on MRI diffusion-weighted imaging sequences. Multiple causes can result in splenium changes. Physicians should evaluate for glucose and electrolyte abnormalities, seizure risk, ongoing infectious or parainfectious process, and traumatic causes.[1]References
- Clinical implications of splenium magnetic resonance imaging signal changes. Doherty, M.J., Jayadev, S., Watson, N.F., Konchada, R.S., Hallam, D.K. Arch. Neurol. (2005) [Pubmed]
Annotations and hyperlinks in this abstract are from individual authors of WikiGenes or automatically generated by the WikiGenes Data Mining Engine. The abstract is from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.About WikiGenesOpen Access LicencePrivacy PolicyTerms of Useapsburg
