Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome and MRI: the "tiger's eye". One case.
The MRI exploration of a woman suspected, on clinical grounds, of having Hallervorden-Spatz disease (or rather syndrome) revealed, on T2-weighted sequences, the "tiger's eye" or "target" image of the pallidum described by previous authors: i.e. a high-intensity signal in the centre of a distinct low-intensity signal; it also showed an abnormal low-intensity signal of the substantia nigra. These changes are related to the iron deposits and neuro-axonal lesions which characterize the disease. The MRI semeiology of Hallervorden-Spatz disease has been analyzed in the literature. The images we obtained in this patient with the echo-gradient technique using T1-weighted sequences were unusual, showing a low-intensity signal of the globi pallidi surrounded by central and peripheral low-intensity signal areas, whereas the images obtained with spin-echo T1-weighted sequences were normal.
Service de Neuroradiologie, Centre Médico-Chirurgical, Montpellier.
V
V
Trussart
N
N
Leboucq
B
B
Carlander
M
M
Billiard
P
P
Castan
D000328:Adult; D001284:Atrophy; D005260:Female; D005917:Globus Pallidus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D006211:Pantothenate Kinase-Associated Neurodegeneration / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000473:pathology