Dengue encephalitis with predominant cerebellar involvement: Report of eight cases with MR and CT imaging features

Abstract

A pattern of symmetrical cerebellar involvement and presence of microbleeds/haemorrhage may serve as a useful imaging marker and may help in the diagnosis of dengue encephalitis.

Spectrum of findings on magnetic resonance imaging of the brain in patients with neurological manifestations of dengue fever

“…We also encountered foci of blooming on GRE/SWI sequences, which was indicative of hemorrhage within the lesions, in all patients ( Figures 1 and 2 ). In the literature, focal lesions caused by dengue appear hyperintense on T2-weighted images and hypointense on T1-weighted images, similar to what we encountered in our studies ( 7 - 9 ) . The DWI characteristics of the lesions have been reported in only a few previous studies.…”

“…The DWI characteristics of the lesions have been reported in only a few previous studies. In those studies, the lesions showed hyperintense signals on DWI, the diffusion being restricted in some cases and facilitated in others ( 7 , 8 ) . In our case series, all of the focal lesions showed restricted diffusion.…”

“…There have been few studies describing the neuroimaging findings of dengue encephalitis on MRI scans. There have been isolated case reports suggesting that the commonly affected regions of brain include the basal ganglia, thalamus, temporal lobes, hippocampus, cerebellum, and cerebral white matter ( 7 , 8 , 16 - 19 ) . This is similar to what we encountered in our case series, in which the most common site of involvement was the basal ganglia-thalamus complex (in seven patients), followed by the cerebrum (in five) and cerebellum (in four).…”

“…There have been only a few studies describing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in patients with dengue fever ( 7 - 9 ) . Here, we describe the spectrum of MRI features in patients with serologically confirmed dengue and neurological manifestations.…”

Brain Imaging in Cases with Positive Serology for Dengue with Neurologic Symptoms: A Clinicoradiologic Correlation

“…[6][7][8] In 1 series, all (n ϭ 8) cases had involvement of the cerebellum. 9 In our series (Table 1), posterior structures such as the brain stem and cerebellum were more commonly involved than anterior structures such as the basal ganglia. A clear gradient was found in which there was progressive involvement of basal ganglia, thalami, brain stem, and cerebellum in an increasing order.…”