Subacute Posterior Inferior Cerebellar Artery Stroke Radiographically Mimicking Lhermitte-Duclos Disease

Abstract

Lhermitte-Duclos disease (LDD) is a rare cerebellar lesion characterized by a hamartomatous lesion of the cerebellum. Mainly diagnosed by MRI, the clinical presentation is usually made of neurological symptoms. Modern neuroimaging techniques such as MRI have led to accurate diagnosis of this disease in both its preand post-operative periods. We present the case of a 68-year-old male with a past medical history of cardiac stenting and coronary artery disease who originally presented to the emergency department as a transfer for evaluation of possible obstructing hydrocephalus and left posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) infarct. Based on the clinical presentation and imaging, the favored diagnosis of his left cerebellar abnormality was LDD rather than an unusual acute/subacute infarct or a metastatic lesion. The rapid progression of symptoms with rapidly progressive cytotoxic edema on serial CTs helped exclude LDD, which is nearly always more of a chronic process. The classic neuroimaging findings and clinical presentation of LDD are also discussed.