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Cerebral cortex
Sequence
CT
DWI
T1
T1 with Contrast
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FLAIR
Figure 1-1. Imaging findings in patients with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage affecting the basal ganglia and cerebral cortex.
First row: Axial computed tomography (CT) of the basal ganglia showing symmetrical hypodensity in the caudate nuclei (left).
Axial CT scans of the brain without contrast revealing linear hyperdensity outlining the cortex (right). Second row: Axial
diffusion-weighted imagery (DWI) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan demonstrates bilateral symmetrical hyperintensity
within the stratiocapsular regions (left). Axial DWI MRIs show diffuse hyperintense signal change in the cerebral cortex indicating laminar necrosis (right). Third row: Axial T1-weighted MRI shows bilateral symmetrical hyperintense signals within the putamen bilaterally (left). Axial T1-weighted MRIs show bilateral areas of cortical hyperintensity representing laminar necrosis (right).
Fourth row: Axial T1-weighted MRI with contrast discloses bilateral symmetrical enhancement in the external putamen bilaterally (left). Axial and sagittal T1-weighted MRI with contrast show linear enhancement outlining the cortex, predominantly located
in the occipital lobes (right). Fifth row: Axial fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) MRI denoting bilateral symmetrical hyperintense signals in the lenticular nuclei (left). Examples of axial FLAIR MRI showing diffuse and focal cortical hyperintensities
distributed throughout the cerebral cortex or preferentially in the medial occipital cortex (right).
Case Vignette
myoclonic jerks (myoclonic status). He subsequently failed to
regain consciousness. Five days later, he was transferred to a
tertiary care center. That day, an electroencephalogram (EEG)
showed a very low-amplitude, slow (delta, occasional theta)
background. A brain CT scan disclosed severe diffuse edema
(Figure 1-2, upper row). A brain MRI performed 13 days after
the insult displayed signs of extensive laminar necrosis
(Figure 1-2, lower row). A second EEG was essentially unchanged almost 1 month after the arrest. He remained in
vegetative state 2 months later.
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Figure 1-2. Computed tomography (CT) scan of the brain showing effacement of
the perimesencephalic cisterns (thin arrows) and areas of parenchymal low attenuation
(thick arrows, upper left). Lower cut of the same CT scan reveals diffuse sulcal effacement
with decreased differentiation between gray and white matter (upper right). T1-weighted
magnetic resonance imaging scan showing high-intensity signals in the lenticular nuclei
(arrows, lower left). Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery sequence disclosing hyperintense
signal in the medial occipital cortices indicative of laminar necrosis (arrows, lower right).
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Figure 1-3. Additional case illustrating the changes of severe of anoxic brain injury on computed
tomography (CT) scan. A 55-year-old man had a cardiac arrest after surgery. CT scan 12 hours after
the arrest shows effacement of the cortical sulci, loss of distinction of gray white matter junction, and
slit-like lateral ventricles suggestive of diffuse cerebral edema (left). Higher cut displays multiple areas
of decreased attenuation due to diffuse cerebral edema in a gyriform distribution over the hemispheric
convexities (right).
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Figure 1-4. Diffusion-weighted imaging sequence (left) and corresponding apparent diffusion coefficient maps (right) of a brain magnetic resonance image from a 51-year-old woman obtained
16 hours after resuscitation from prolonged cardiac arrest. Note restricted diffusion in the lenticular
nuclei and throughout the cortex of both cerebral hemispheres. The patient remained comatose and
expired 3 days later after withdrawal of life support.
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Figure 1-6. T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan showing patchy areas of cortical
hyperintensity representing laminar necrosis (thin arrows). Also notice hyperintense signal in the putamen (thick arrows). This MRI scan was performed nearly 3 weeks after a cardiac arrest,
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Figure 1-8. Magnetic resonance imaging scan of the brain with gadolinium performed for prognostic
purposes 1 month after cardiac arrest in a 45-year-old woman with limited recovery. She was fully incapacitated and was suspected to be cortically blind. Notice diffuse cortical enhancement predominantly
involving the occipital and perirolandic cortical areas. The figure shows enhanced T1-weighted sequences
with axial cuts (upper row), sagittal cut (lower left), and coronal cut (lower right).
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Figure 1-10. Computed tomography scan of the brain shows multifocal areas of severe cortical
edema 3 days after cardiac arrest
in a patient with persistent coma
and myoclonic status. Basal ganglia also exhibit low attenuation.
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Figure 1-11. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans showing evidence of basal ganglia involvement after anoxic insults. Upper row: Diffusion-weighted imagery sequence revealing restricted
diffusion on bilateral putamen and caudate nuclei (left) and in the caudate nuclei and cortical areas
(right). Lower row: T1-weighted sequence showing high-intensity signal in the putamen bilaterally
(axial view on the left and coronal on the right). Note associated medial occipital changes on the
axial cut.
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Watershed Infarctions
Watershed infarctions caused by a diffuse anoxicischemic insult appear to be more common in neonates and children.
In adults, we have observed these lesions more often
in patients who survive the event. In addition, watershed infarcts are not typically seen in conjunction
with extensive laminar necrosis (Figure 1-13).
It is tempting to hypothesize that watershed infarcts occur in cases of severe hypoperfusion without anoxia (as happens when they are caused by
carotid occlusion or critical stenosis with systemic
hypotension), whereas laminar necrosis results
from anoxic injury.
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Figure 1-13. Images demonstrate watershed infarctions after cardiac arrest. Upper row: Diffusionweighted imaging sequence showing restricted diffusion in internal and external watershed distributions
4 days after cardiac arrest in a pediatric patient. Lower row: Early changes already observed in the fluidattenuated inversion recovery sequence. Notice that the changes extend beyond typical watershed territory to affect larger areas of the frontal cortex on the right hemisphere.
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Figure 1-14. This figure illustrates predominant anoxic changes in the perirolandic regions after cardiac arrest. Upper row: Restricted diffusion on diffusion-weighted imaging (left) and corresponding dark
signal on the apparent diffusion coefficient map (right) in a 56-year-old man who sustained prolonged
ventricular fibrillation-arrest 5 days before. Lower row: FLAIR sequence shows high-intensity signal
outlining the perirolandic cortex (normal view on the left and magnified view on the right).
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Figure 1-16. Evidence of cerebellar lesions after brain anoxia is seen in this magnetic resonance
image of an 84-year-old woman who had prolonged respiratory arrest. Diffusion-weighted image showing extensive areas of restricted diffusion in both cerebellar hemispheres (left). T2-weighted sequence
also shows high signal intensity in these regions (right).
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hypoxemia combined with hypotension and acidosis,19 yet surprisingly little research addressing this
form of leukoencephalopathy has been reported in
the literature.
Early white matter changes have been observed in
some patients.20 The actual prevalence of this finding
is unclear, but from our experience, it is probably
quite low.
Figure 1-18. Seventy-year-old man with poor recovery 2 weeks after prolonged cardiorespiratory
arrest complicated with renal failure and associated with severe acidosis. Mild initial improvement in
alertness was followed by irreversible decline. Upper row: Axial diffusion-weighted imaging sequence
shows patchy areas of bright signal within the white matter suggestive of anoxic leukoencephalopathy.
These bright spots matched with low apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) on the ADC map (not shown).
Lower row: Axial FLAIR shows extensive white matter changes in the same patient.
References
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