ROLE OF MRI IN WHITE MATTER DISEASES- CLINICO-RADIOLOGICAL CORRELATION

BACKGROUND The diagnostic process is difficult as there are many different white matter disorders (inherited and acquired). MRI has high diagnostic specificity to study the pattern of brain structures. MRI is more useful in demonstrating abnormalities of myelination. MATERIALS AND METHODS Our study developed a practical algorithm that relies mainly on the characteristics of brain MRI. Our study included clinicallysuspected patients with demyelination during a period of one year. RESULTS Our study included 25 clinically-suspected patients (out of total of 400 patients) with demyelination during a period of one year (February 2016 to January 2017).  Multiple sclerosis accounted for the majority of cases (36.0%) followed by acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (20%).  In multiple sclerosis, majority of the patients presented in the third decade of life with a definite female preponderance (M:F-1:2).  The most common symptom and site of involvement were visual impairment (73.3%) and periventricular area (80%), respectively.  Other causes like PML, PVL, CPM, reversible posterior leucoencephalopathy, leukodystrophies and motor neuron disease comprised the remainder of the cases. CONCLUSION MRI due to its excellent grey white matter resolution is very sensitive in detecting subtle demyelination, the sensitivity being still further enhanced by FLAIR sequences. MRI in correlation with the clinical signs and symptoms is an ideal modality in early diagnosis of white matter diseases.