Acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis masquerading as a tumor

Abstract

A 34-year-old female presented with a history of acute onset severe bilateral defective vision for 2 weeks. Examination revealed visual acuity CFat1 m in the right eye and 6/60 in the left eye. Right eye had Grade 1 relative afferent pupillary defect. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain was done which showed well-defined T1-hypointense, T2 and FLAIR hyperintense lesion of approximately 1.8 cm × 1.6 cm × 1.7 cm size in the right frontal lobe cortex and underlying white matter with a thin rim of contrast enhancement with well-defined outer border and a cortex broken arc appearance. MR spectroscopy showed increase in choline peak within the enhancing walls of the lesion and no decrease in N-acetyl aspartate peak suggestive of demyelination. Diagnosis of acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis was made and with a course of large dose steroid vision improved dramatically.

Keywords

• Acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis
• Cortex broken arc appearance
• MR spectroscopy