Radiation therapy-related ataxia associated with FDG-PET cerebellar hypometabolism.

Abstract

Brain FDG-PET after radiation therapy is classically used to differentiate between tumor recurrence and radiation-related tumor necrosis. Little is known about FDG-PET in patients with radiation-induced leukoencephalopathy without radiological aspect of necrosis. We present a 69-year-old woman who had preventive whole brain radiation after a diagnosis of paraneoplastic Lambert-Eaton syndrome related to small cell lung cancer Five months after radiation therapy, she developed radiation-induced leukoencephalopathy manifested by ataxia. Profound cerebellar hypometabolism on FDG-PET was in contrast with the presence of only discrete cerebellar white matter changes on MRI. FDG-PET abnormalities seem to correlate better with clinical signs related to radiation-associated brain toxicity than MRI.

• Authors: Dimitri Renard, Laurent Collombier, Giovanni Castelnovo, Genevieve Fourcade, Charles Debrigode, Pierre Labauge
• Journal: Acta neurologica Belgica (Acta Neurol Belg) Vol. 110 Issue 1 Pg. 100-2 (Mar 2010) ISSN: 0300-9009 [Print] Italy
• PMID: 20514935 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Fluorodeoxyglucose F18

Topics

• Ataxia (diagnostic imaging, etiology)
• Brain (diagnostic imaging, pathology)
• Carcinoma, Small Cell (complications, radiotherapy)
• Cerebellar Diseases (diagnostic imaging, etiology)
• Female
• Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
• Humans
• Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (complications, radiotherapy)
• Lung Neoplasms (complications, radiotherapy)
• Middle Aged
• Positron-Emission Tomography (methods)
• Radiotherapy (adverse effects)
• Ultrasonography