MR findings in a patient with Kernicterus

We report on a 2.5-year old boy with severe mental retardation, choreoathet osis, dystonia, muscle rigidity, opisthotonus and severe hearing impairment . He had history of severe hyperbilirubinaemia immediately after birth pres umably due to ABO incompatibility. The history and the clinical picture sug gested the diagnosis of Kernicterus. The MR imaging examination upon admiss ion revealed bilateral signal intensity increase in the globus pallidum on T2-weighted sequences. Additionally, our patient showed signal intensity ch anges within the subthalamic nuclei, which is known to be another character istic area of bilirubin deposition in Kernicterus.