Clinical and neuroradiological manifestations of reversible splenial lesion syndrome: a report of 13 cases

Objective To summarize the clinical and MRI imaging features, treatment and prognosis of reversible splenial lesion syndrome (RESLES). Methods The clinical manifestation and MRI imaging appearances of 13 RESLES patients were retrospectively evaluated and the pertinent literatures of RESLES were reviewed. Results Of the 13 cases (11 males and 2 female, aged from 13 to 58 years), 1 was complicated with spontaneous intracranial hypotension syndrome, 1 with epidemic hemorrhagic fever, 1 with antiepileptic drug withdraw, 1 with pituitary crisis combining Sjogren syndrome, 1 with still disease, and 8 cases were complicated with viral encephalitis (meningoencephalitis). The first MRI imaging was performed from 2 to 39 days after onset. All the lesions were measured about 1-2cm, located in the central area and involved no other part of corpus callosum. They were characterized by high signal intensity on FLAIR and T2 sequences, with mild signal reduction on T1 sequence, and hyperintensity on DWI with low apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values. The lesions formed as ovoid and boomerang. Following intravenous injection of contrast medium in 3 cases, no enhancement was found in the splenial lesions. All the patients completely recovered or obviously improved after appropriate treatments. The splenial lesions disappeared or obviously weakened on the follow-up MRI imaging, ranging from 6 to 30 days after first MRI imaging. Conclusions RESLES is characterized by the MRI finding as a reversible lesion with transiently reduced diffusion in the splenium of corpus callosum. Symptoms of RESLES are various, the outcome is favorable in most cases, and the etiology and pathogenesis of RESLES are still unclear. DOI: 10.11855/j.issn.0577-7402.2016.10.09