Differentiation of dys- and demyelination using diffusional anisotropy.
We attempted differential diagnosis of dysmyelination and demyelination in childhood using magnetic resonance diffusion weighted imaging. Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease, one of the dysmyelination disorders, demonstrated diffuse high intensity of the cerebral white matter on T2-weighted images, which demonstrated diffusional anisotropy on diffusion weighted images. On the other hand, high intensity lesions on T2-weighted images in Krabbe disease, one of the demyelination disorders, lost diffusional anisotropy. Another demyelination disorder, Alexander disease-related disorder, also lost its diffusional anisotropy. In contrast to relatively high signal of the lesions on diffusion-weighted images in Krabbe disease (high signal type), the lesions in Alexander disease-related disorder showed low signal on diffusion-weighted images (low signal type). These results suggest that diffusion-weighted images will be clinically useful to differentiate dysmyelination from demyelination; both of them demonstrate similar high intensity lesions of the white matter on T2-weighted images.
Ono
J
J
Division of Pediatrics; Toyonaka Municipal Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
Harada
K
K
Mano
T
T
Sakurai
K
K
Okada
S
S
D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002549:Diffuse Cerebral Sclerosis of Schilder / Q000175:diagnosis; D004058:Diffusion; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007965:Leukodystrophy, Globoid Cell / Q000175:diagnosis; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology