Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-v5vhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-30T19:10:24.515Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Serial MR Imaging of Adult-Onset Rasmussen's Encephalitis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2018

Myriam Irislimane
Affiliation:
Département de radiologie, Département de radiologie, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal - Hôpital Notre-Dame
François Guilbert
Affiliation:
Département de radiologie, Département de radiologie, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal - Hôpital Notre-Dame
Jean-Maxime Leroux
Affiliation:
Département de radiologie, Département de radiologie, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal - Hôpital Notre-Dame
Lionel Carmant
Affiliation:
Service de neurologie, Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Dang Khoa Nguyen*
Affiliation:
Service de neurologie, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal - Hôpital Notre-Dame
*
Service de neurologie, Hôpital Notre-Dame du CHUM, 1560 rue Sherbrooke Est, Montréal, Québec, H2L 4M1, Canada
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

A 52-year-old woman was referred for a progressive neurological condition which started a year before with continuous irregular twitching of the right facial and arm muscles as well as the tongue and palate, followed by progressive dysphagia, right hemiparesis, ataxia, dysphasia and dysarthria. Though magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at clinical presentation and a year after were both normal (Figure A1), Rasmussen's encephalitis (RE) was strongly suspected and treatment with corticosteroids and immunoglobulins were begun. A third MRI, two years after onset, revealed mild T2 hyperintense subcortical white matter changes over the left perisylvian region (Figure A) which confirmed our initial suspicion of RE as she now met clinical, electrophysiological and morphological criterias for RE. While waiting for a cerebral biopsy after unsatisfactory response from antiepileptic drugs, corticosteroids and immunoglobulins, her condition markedly worsened less than three years after onset with the sudden occurrence of status epilepticus requiring intubation and continuous infusions of midazolam and propofol.

Type
Neuroimaging Highlights
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation 2011

References

1. Bien, CG, Granata, T, Antozzi, C. et al. Pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of Rasmussen encephalitis. Brain. 2005; 128:454-71.Google Scholar
2. Hunter, GRW, Donat, J, Pryse-Phillips, W, Harder, S, Robinson, CA. Rasmussen's encephalitis in a 58-year-old female: still a variant? Can J Neurol Sci, 2001;33:302-5.Google Scholar
3. Hart, YM, Andermann, F, Fish, DR. et al. Chronic encephalitis and epilepsy in adults and adolescents: a variant of Rasmussen's syndrome? Neurology. 1997;Feb;48(2):418-24. Google Scholar
4. Carmant, L, Ouardouz, M, Fontaine, F. et al. Auto-immune basis of rasmussen encephalitis: development of a new animal model. Epilepsia. 2009;50 Suppl 11:477.Google Scholar
5. Bien, CG, Urbach, H, Deckert, M. et al. Diagnosis and staging of Rasmussen's encephalitis by serial MRI and histopalhology. Neurology. 2002;58:2507.Google Scholar
6. Huang, YC, Weng, HH, Tsui, YT. et al. Periictal magnetic resonance imaging in status epitepiicus. Epilepsy Res. 2009;86:7281.Google Scholar
7. Nguyen, DK, Botez. MI. Diaschisis and neurobehavior. Can J Neurol Sci. 1998;25:512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. Biaou, O, Abderahim, R, Soto Ares, G, Jissendi Tchofo, P. Diaschisis cortico-cérébelleux croisé post-état de mal épilpetique. J Radiol. 2008:89(4):507-9.Google Scholar
9. Samaniego, EA, Stuckert, E, Fischbein, N, Wijman, CA. Crossed cerebellar diaschisis in status epilepticus. Neurocrit Care. 2010;12:8890.Google Scholar
10. Baheti, NN, Bansal, AR, Rathore, C, Kesavdas, C. Diaschisis. Is it always reversible? Neurology. 2009;72:e79.Google Scholar