Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Brief Clinical Note

Serial T2 short inversion time inversion recovery images in a patient with medullary hemorrhage

Yoko Okada, M.D., Kensaku Shibazaki, M.D., Yasuyuki Iguchi, M.D., Takeshi Inoue, M.D. and Kazumi Kimura, M.D.

Department of Stroke Center, Kawasaki Medical School

A 52-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of hypesthesia on the right side of his body. He had no medical history. On admission, he exhibited hypesthesia and disturbance of the touch and the vibratory sense on the right side of his body excluding the face. A brain T2*-weighted image revealed the a dot like lesion surrounded by an iso-signal lesion in the medial medulla oblongata. Therefore a diagnosis of medullary hemorrhage was made. Although a vascular malformation was considered as the cause of the hemorrhage, cerebral angiography did not reveal any vascular malformations. After admission, he developed left hypoglossal nerve palsy on day 6, and intractable hiccups on day 11. A T2*-weighted image and a FLAIR image disclosed edema surrounding the hematoma in the medial medullary lesion. T2* weighted images are useful for diagnosing and evaluating serial changes of medullary hemorrhage.

(CLINICA NEUROL, 47: 519|521, 2007)
key words: T2*-weighted image, disturbance of touch and vibratory sense, hypoglossal nerve palsy, intractable hiccups, Medullary hemorrhage

(Received: 29-Dec-06)