Multinodular and vacuolating neuronal tumor incidentally discovered in a young man: Conventional and advanced MRI features

Abstract

Multinodular and Vacuolating Neuronal Tumor (MVNT) has been included in the most recent (2016) World Health Organization Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System as unique cytoarchitectural pattern of gangliocytoma. We present a case of a MVNT incidentally discovered in a 22-year old male, who presented with seizures after a head injury. Conventional MRI revealed a left parietal lesion with characteristic tiny, coalescent, well-defined, non-enhancing nodules, located in the juxtacortical white matter with partial involvement of an otherwise normal adjacent cortex and characterized by slight relative increase of the cerebral blood volume (CBV), compared to the contralateral white matter (lesional CBV/contralateral CBV = 1.112) and mild increase of choline and reduction of NAA (lesional choline/creatine ratio =1.36 and choline/NAA ratio=0.77, compared to 0.87 and 0.51, respectively). The patient fully responded to treatment with phenytoin and a follow-up MRI, six months later, showed the lesion without any substantial difference. Keywords: Multinodular and vacuolating neuronal tumor, Magnetic resonance imaging, Diffusion-weighted imaging, Perfusion imaging, Magnetic resonance spectroscopy