Neonatal hypoglycaemic encephalopathy: diffusion-weighted imaging and proton MR spectroscopy

We report two infants with neonatal hypoglycaemic encephalopathy who were evaluated with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and proton MR spectroscopy (MRS) as well as conventional MR. As in conventional MR, DWI and proton MRS revealed a predominance of abnormalities in the parieto-occipital lobes and underlying white matter including the splenium of the corpus callosum. In the acute phase of the disease, lesions on DWI showed restricted water diffusion and on DWI the characteristic lesions seemed to be more readily discernible than on conventional MRI. In the chronic phase, DWI demonstrated increased water diffusion in the affected areas showing atrophy on conventional MRI. Proton MRS revealed an increased lactate-lipid peak and a decreased NAA peak in the involved areas. DWI and proton MRS findings appear helpful in evaluating the extent and the presence of neuronal damage early in the course of neonatal hypoglycaemic encephalopathy.