title: Hypertrophic olivary degeneration: metaanalysis of the temporal evolution of MR findings.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hypertrophic olivary degeneration (HOD) is usually caused by a lesion in the triangle of Guillain and Mollaret and presents clinically as palatal tremor. Although the imaging features have been well described, the temporal course of hypertrophy and T2 signal increase in the inferior olivary nucleus (ION) has not been fully characterized. Our purpose was to evaluate the time course of MR imaging features of HOD caused by a lesion within the triangle of Guillain and Mollaret.
  
  
  METHODS
  The temporal progression of HOD in 45 patients with symptomatic palatal tremor was obtained by extrapolation of combined MR imaging data from six patients treated at our institution and 39 patients reported in the literature. The MR examinations and reports were reviewed for presence of hyperintense signal in the ION on T2-weighted images, hypertrophy of the ION, and an inciting lesion in the triangle of Guillain and Mollaret. The interval between the MR examination and the inciting lesion was determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Increased olivary signal on T2-weighted images first appeared 1 month after the inciting lesion and persisted for at least 3 to 4 years. Olivary hypertrophy initially developed 6 months after the acute event and resolved by 3 to 4 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Visible changes on MR images in the ION in patients with a lesion in the triangle of Guillain and Mollaret correlate well with the described sequential histopathologic findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, The Toronto Western Hospital of the University Health Network and University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goyal
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Versnick
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tuite
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Cyr
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kucharczyk
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Montanera
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Willinsky
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mikulis
mesh_terms: D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009207:Myoclonus / Q000209:etiology; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009847:Olivary Nucleus / Q000473:pathology*; D013997:Time Factors