Diffusion imaging may predict reversible brain lesions in eclampsia and severe preeclampsia: initial experience

The purpose of this study was to validate diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in the prediction of the evolutive course of brain edema and to establish its pathophysiologic presence in patients with eclampsia/severe preeclampsia. Seventeen patients with a clinical diagnosis of severe eclam...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of obstetrics and gynecology 2003-11, Vol.189 (5), p.1350-1355
Main Authors: Loureiro, Ricardo, Leite, Claudia C, Kahhale, Soubhi, Freire, Sálvio, Sousa, Benesson, Cardoso, Ellison F, Alves, Eliane A, Borba, Paulo, Cerri, Giovanni G, Zugaib, Marcelo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Brain - pathology
Brain - physiopathology
brain edema
Brain Edema - diagnosis
Brain Edema - etiology
Brain Edema - physiopathology
diffusion imaging
Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Diseases of mother, fetus and pregnancy
Eclampsia
Eclampsia - complications
Eclampsia - diagnosis
Female
Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics
Headache. Facial pains. Syncopes. Epilepsia. Intracranial hypertension. Brain oedema. Cerebral palsy
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Medical sciences
Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes)
Neurology
posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome
Pre-Eclampsia - complications
Pre-Eclampsia - diagnosis
Pregnancy
Pregnancy. Fetus. Placenta
Prognosis
Sensitivity and Specificity
Severity of Illness Index
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The purpose of this study was to validate diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in the prediction of the evolutive course of brain edema and to establish its pathophysiologic presence in patients with eclampsia/severe preeclampsia. Seventeen patients with a clinical diagnosis of severe eclampsia/preeclampsia and T2 hyperintense brain lesions on routine magnetic resonance imaging were evaluated at hospital admission and 8 weeks later. Brain edema was reversible in 13 patients and irreversible in 4 patients, as indicated on follow-up magnetic resonance imaging. Sixteen of 17 patients were differentiated accurately into reversible and irreversible groups on the basis of diffusion imaging on hospital admission. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a significant increase in water mobility in abnormal regions compared with normal-appearing brains in patients in the reversible group (1.34±0.10 mm 2 vs 0.79±0.08 mm 2/s×10 −3, P
ISSN:0002-9378
1097-6868
DOI:10.1067/S0002-9378(03)00651-3