MRI demonstration of cortical laminar necrosis

Purpose. The goal of this study was to follow over time the MR imaging feat ures of cortical laminar necrosis. Patients and methods. Six patients with cortical laminar necrosis were incl uded. There were two women and four men aged 54-84 years, with a mean age o f 68 years. In four patients, cortical laminar necrosis was caused by ische mic stroke, one case occurred after a cardiac arrest and the last patient h ad a meningoencephalitis. The time delay from insult to the first MR study varied between one week and 3 months. Results. The MRI showed hyperintense lesions in the cerebral cortex on T1W and T2W images. The high intensity signal was still observed a few months a fter the insult. Cortical laminar necrosis lesions did not demonstrate hemo rrhage on CT and MRI studies. Conclusion. MRI allowed detection of cortical laminar necrosis and could di fferenciate it from hemorrhage.