"Cloud-like enhancement" is a magnetic resonance imaging abnormality specific to neuromyelitis optica.
Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is presumably mediated by an autoantibody against aquaporin-4 densely expressed at the blood-brain barrier. In 18 patients with NMO, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings were systematically reviewed. Brain MRI abnormalities were found for 89% of the patients, and the most prominent feature was "cloud-like enhancement," multiple patchy enhancing lesions with blurred margin, found in 90% of the patients with positive contrast enhancement. In NMO, brain MRI abnormalities are frequent, and cloud-like enhancement appears to be an MRI finding specific to NMO, possibly caused by primary involvement of the blood-brain barrier by the autoantibodies.
Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan. sito@faculty.chiba-u.jp
Shoichi
S
Ito
Masahiro
M
Mori
Takahiro
T
Makino
Sei
S
Hayakawa
Satoshi
S
Kuwabara
D000328:Adult; D051401:Aquaporin 4 / Q000276:immunology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D009471:Neuromyelitis Optica / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*
D051401:Aquaporin 4; D001323:Autoantibodies