Abstract
We report a case of hemimegalencephaly diagnosed by prenatal MRI with an emphasis on its appearance on diffusion-weighted images. This case shows that in this condition the enlarged hemisphere may show restricted diffusion on prenatal MRI. In our opinion, this finding may result from a combination of increased cellularity and advanced myelination in the affected hemisphere. Restricted diffusion is an additional valuable indicator in the analysis of the fetal brain.
References
Barkovich AJ, Kuzniecky RI (1996) Neuroimaging of focal malformations of cortical development. J Clin Neurophysiol 13:481–494
Flores-Sarnat L (2002) Hemimegalencephaly: part 1. Genetic, clinical, and imaging aspects. J Child Neurol 17:373–384; discussion 384
Malinger G, Ben-Sira L, Lev D, et al (2004) Fetal brain imaging: a comparison between magnetic resonance imaging and dedicated neurosonography. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 23:333–340
Nishimaki S, Endo M, Seki K, et al (2004) Hemimegalencephaly misdiagnosed as a congenital brain tumor by fetal cerebral ultrasonography. Prenat Diagn 24:257–259
Le Bihan D, Breton E, Lallemand D (1986) MR imaging of intravoxel incoherent motions: application to diffusion and perfusion in neurologic disorders. Radiology 161:401–408
Provenzale JM, Sorensen AG (1999) Diffusion-weighted MR imaging in acute stroke: theoretic considerations and clinical applications. AJR 173:1459–1467
Stejskal E, Tanner J (1965) Spin diffusion measurements: spin echoes in the presence of a time dependent field gradient. J Chem Phys 42:288–292
Latour LL, Svoboda K, Mitra PP, et al (1994) Time-dependent diffusion of water in a biological model system. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 91:1229–1233
Agid R, Ducreux D, Halliday WC, et al (2003) MR diffusion-weighted imaging in a case of West Nile virus encephalitis. Neurology 61:1821–1823
Kalita J, Misra UK (2000) Comparison of CT scan and MRI findings in the diagnosis of Japanese encephalitis. J Neurol Sci 174:3–8
Stadnik TW, Chaskis C, Michotte A, et al (2001) Diffusion-weighted MR imaging of intracerebral masses: comparison with conventional MR imaging and histologic findings. Am J Neuroradiol 22:969–976
Rovira A, Pericot I, Alonso J, et al (2002) Serial diffusion-weighted MR imaging and proton MR spectroscopy of acute large demyelinating brain lesions: case report. Am J Neuroradiol 23:989–994
Manz HJ, Phillips TM, Rowden G, et al (1979) Unilateral megalencephaly, cerebral cortical dysplasia, neuronal hypertrophy, and heterotopia: cytomorphometric, fluorometric cytochemical, and biochemical analyses. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 45:97–103
Townsend JJ, Nielsen SL, Malamud N (1975) Unilateral megalencephaly: hamartoma or neoplasm? Neurology 25:448–453
Zhang L, Thomas KM, Davidson MC, et al (2005) MR quantitation of volume and diffusion changes in the developing brain. Am J Neuroradiol 26:45–49
Yagishita A, Arai N, Tamagawa K, et al (1998) Hemimegalencephaly: signal changes suggesting abnormal myelination on MRI. Neuroradiology 40:734–738
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Agid, R., Lieberman, S., Nadjari, M. et al. Prenatal MR diffusion-weighted imaging in a fetus with hemimegalencephaly. Pediatr Radiol 36, 138–140 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-005-0003-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-005-0003-3