The presentation of a transient hyperintense lesion with Legionnaires disease in a patient--is it a coincidence or an incidental finding?

Up to date the presentation of transient splenial lesions in corpus callosum were reported in diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) only in epileptic patients and patients under antiepileptic therapy. A 41 year old male with no previous medical history was admitted to our clinic with symptoms of pneumonia. The neurological exam revealed stupor, but when awake his speech and orientation were normal. There were no meningeal irritation signs, cranial nerves, piramidal and cerebellar functions were normal. He had moderate respiratory distress and had bilateral rales in lower lobes while on auscultation. Laboratory tests revealed high liver function levels and high acute phase reactants. Arterial blood levels showed hypoxemia. A brain MRI showed a hypointensity in the splenium of corpus callosum on T1 weighted images. There was markedly increased signal in this region on diffusion weighted imaging and hypointense on ADC. The lesion was slightly hyperintense on T2 and FLAIR weighted images. A repeat brain MRI was done 30 days after the initial study and showed a complete resolution of the splenial lesion. Transient splenial lesions can be seen due to different mechanisms in different clinical settings. It should be noted that these lesions are mostly reversible. Unnecessary therapies and procedures should be avoided in these lesions.

A geriatric patient with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis.

The most frequent health problems seen in senility are chronic and degenerative diseases. A 75-year-old male patient with the complaints of weight loss and difficulty in swallowing was admitted to our hospital from a nursing home. Upper system fiber-optic gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed and a mass at the junction of the hypopharynx and esophagus just below recessus piriformis obstructing almost the whole of the lumen and blocking the distal passage was detected. Computed tomography revealed marked narrowing secondary to osseous hypertrophy in the air column of the hypopharynx and proximal esophagus. Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis or Forestier's disease is an idiopathic disease characterized by the ossification of the anterior longitudinal ligament of vertebra and some of the extraspinal ligaments. In the present case we aim to discuss an elderly patient who suffered from dysphagia and weight loss and the diagnostic stages.