Diffusion Weighted MRI Findings in Two Patients with Hypoxic Brain Damage

J Korean Neurol Assoc > Volume 18(5); 2000 > Article

Journal of the Korean Neurological Association 2000;18(5): 624-628.

확산강조 자기공명영상으로 병변이 확인된 저산소증 후 뇌증 환자 2예

정현정, 박재현 김정연 김은기 김진태

인제대학교 의과대학 상계백병원 신경과학교실

Diffusion Weighted MRI Findings in Two Patients with Hypoxic Brain Damage

Hyun-Jung Jung, M.D., Jae-Hyeon Park, M.D., Jeong-Yeon Kim, M.D., Eun-Ki Kim, M.D., Jin-Tae Kim, M.D.

Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Inje University, Sanggye Paik Hospital

Abstract

It is well-known that vulnerable sites of hypoxic brain damage are the basal ganglia and the periventricular white mat-ters, which are well visualized with CT and conventional MR images. However, there have been several reports about the diffusion of the weighted MR images of hypoxic brain damages. A seventy-nine years old woman and a 61-years old woman were admitted to our hospital due to mental changes, which occurred during sleep as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. Brain MRIs of the patients showed high signal intensities on the bilateral globus pallidus in both the T2WI and diffusion weighted images. They also revealed high signal intensities on the white matter and bilateral perirolandic cortices in the diffusion-weighted images but not in the T2WI. Therefore, diffusion weighted MR images may be more sensitive to the acute cerebral lesions in hypoxic brain damage than conventional MR images. J Korean Neurol Assoc 18(5):624~628, 2000 Key Words : Hypoxia/Brain, Magnetic resonance imaging