A case of multiple sclerosis with homonymous hemianopia examined by positron emission tomography.
Keywords
Abstract
BACKGROUND
To demonstrate the efficacy of positron emission tomography (PET) for examining multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with hemianopia.
METHODS
A 20-year-old man visited us with a complaint of left homonymous hemianopia and headache.
METHODS
The patient's visual acuity was 1.2 (n.c.) OD and 0.9 (1.0) OS. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a mass in the temporoparietal lobe. A pathological diagnosis of MS was made by brain biopsy. Low glucose metabolism in the lesion and visual cortex was observed by PET with (18)F-fluorodeoxy glucose. PET with (11)C-flumazenyl revealed a reduction of (11)C-uptake in the demyelinated optic radiation, and only a slight reduction of (11)C-uptake in the primary visual cortex. The results of (11)C-flumazenyl PET suggested a slight reduction of neuronal density. In 2 years, the visual field recovered to the normal state.
CONCLUSIONS
PET can be a useful tool for estimating the visual outcome of patients with hemianopia in MS.
