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Leukoencephalopathy with Cysts and Calcification

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This is a child who presented with shunt

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failure to the emergency room

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with no prior examinations.

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At this juncture for shunt failure,

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we're typically performing MR

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sequences with HASTE fast T2-weighted scans

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in the sagittal axial and coronal plane,

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and we don't necessarily perform CT scan.

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This study, however,

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was performed in 2014 before

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we implemented an MR protocol

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for evaluation for children with hydrocephalus.

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So, let's look at the CT scan.

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What we see with the CT scan is a patient

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who has bilateral ventriculostomy catheters

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with bilateral areas of calcification in the

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basal ganglia region,

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as well as in the periphery.

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You see some calcification

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in the periphery here,

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and the patient has cysts within the white

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matter in the parenchyma of the brain.

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Now, on initial blush,

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we might consider torch infections,

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which may lead to the calcifications in

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the periventricular region.

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However, this wouldn't necessarily account for some

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of the more peripheral calcifications.

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The combination of the calcifications

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associated with parenchymal cysts

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might lead us to worry about a

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dysmyelinating disorder that would also have

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associated calcifications and cysts.

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And the dysmyelination might be brought up

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by the fact that there is low density

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within the white matter

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bilaterally in this patient.

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So, we'd be considering a leukodystrophy with

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calcification and cysts

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versus a torch infection.

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This patient subsequently

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went on to MRI scanning.

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Looking at the FLAIR scan,

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we see the large parenchymal cysts,

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which has signal intensity,

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which is not the same as the

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CSF of the ventricle,

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and we see that there actually are multiple

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ones of these various cysts.

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In addition,

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we have the white matter disease that is

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predominantly in the temporal

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lobe and frontal lobe,

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and we see the residual from the

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ventriculostomy catheterization.

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The calcifications are seen in the basal

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ganglia, the thalamus, etc.

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And this patient has a diagnosis of

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leukoencephalopathy with cysts

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and calcification.

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It is one of the more obscure of the

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leukodystrophies that can occur,

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and the white matter disease may be diffuse

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or it may be more selective to the temporal

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lobes or even in the cerebellum.

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Here you see that there is involvement of

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the pons, but not so much involved

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and of the central cerebellum.

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This used to be called Labrune syndrome,

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but we now refer to it as leukoencephalopathy,

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with parenchymal cysts and calcifications.

Report

Description

Faculty

David M Yousem, MD, MBA

Professor of Radiology, Vice Chairman and Associate Dean

Johns Hopkins University

Tags

Pediatrics

Neuroradiology

Metabolic

MRI

Congenital

CT

Brain

Acquired/Developmental

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