A Case of Encephalitis with a Reversible Splenial Lesion on a Diffusion Weighted MRI Image

ABSTRACT

Reversible splenial lesion may occur in encephalitis rarely. A 21-year-old man was admitted with viral encephalitis. High signal on the diffusion MRI and low signal on the ADC map image was showed in the splenium. As the patient improved, the lesion suggestive of cytotoxic edema was completely resolved one month later. Although the concrete pathophysiology of focal cytotoxic edema in encephalitis is unclear yet, MRI is valuable diagnostic tool to manage encephalitis in the view of prognosis.