Acquired cerebral hemiatrophy: idiopathic?
The authors report the case of a young man with acquired cerebral hemiatrophy that was progressive initially but stabilized after a few months. He did not have any seizure throughout the course of his illness. No definite cause was evident despite extensive investigations. He did have a slight increase in white cell count on a cerebrospinal fluid study done during the progressive phase of his illness suggesting that an unidentified infective or inflammatory illness may have resulted in the cerebral hemiatrophy. The authors suggest that Rassmusen's encephalitis may in fact be a spectrum with the typical descriptions representing one end. The importance of multimodality imaging in evaluating patients with cerebral hemiatrophy is discussed.
Kumar
Neeraj
N
Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. kumar.neeraj@mayo.edu
Lindell
Edward P
EP
Port
John D
JD
D000328:Adult; D001284:Atrophy; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D018450:Disease Progression; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D004660:Encephalitis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology*; D006429:Hemiplegia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D006832:Hydranencephaly / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007089:Image Enhancement; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D020772:Internal Capsule / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000502:physiology; D014855:Wallerian Degeneration / Q000175:diagnosis*