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Lookup NU author(s): Emerita Professor Katherine Bushby, Professor Raj KalariaORCiD, Professor David BurnORCiD
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Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a rare, inherited cause of early stroke and dementia, with a poor prognosis. This study was performed to clarify lesion appearance and pattern of lesion distribution in CADASIL. 20 members of a single family were tested for the CADASIL gene mutation and studied with cranial MRI. Scans were evaluated for lesion load and pattern of lesion distribution. 19 patients had cranial MRI, of whom 11 had normal MRI scans, were clinically unaffected and tested negative for the CADASIL gene mutation. The remaining eight patients had abnormal cranial MRI scans: seven patients were positive for the CADASIL gene mutation and one (untested) patient was severely clinically affected. Three of the patients who tested positive for the CADASIL gene mutation were clinically unaffected at the time of imaging. All eight patients with abnormal cranial MRI had subcortical white matter abnormalities, mostly in frontal and temporal lobes. Lesions involving the corpus callosum were present on sagittal T-2 weighted images in four of five clinically affected and one of three clinically unaffected patients. Lesions involving the deep grey nuclei and the brain stem were common. On T-1 weighted images, lesions were either poorly defined (confluent white matter hypointensity) or well defined (cystic infarcts or enlarged perivascular spaces). Atrophy was infrequent. Familiarity with the range of cranial MRI appearances may aid diagnosis of CADASIL. Recognition of cranial imaging features in asymptomatic CADASIL patients could prompt earlier diagnosis.
Author(s): Kalaria RN; Bushby K; Burn DJ; Coulthard A; Blank SC
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: British Journal of Radiology
Year: 2000
Volume: 73
Issue: 867
Pages: 256-265
ISSN (print): 0007-1285
ISSN (electronic): 1748-880X
Publisher: British Institute of Radiology
URL: http://bjr.birjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/73/867/256
