Enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of leptomeningeal angiomatosis

Abstract

We present two patients with unilateral occipital gyriform calcification and seizures. Gyriform or serpentine calcification as revealed by computed tomography (CT) scan is rare and is a characteristic finding of Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS) and celiac disease (CD). These patients had neither the facial nevus flammeus or neurological deficits characteristic of SWS, nor the gastrointestinal symptoms characteristic of CD. CD is often accompanied by cerebral occipital calcification indistinguishable from that of SWS. We demonstrate the presence of cerebral leptomeningeal angiomatosis (LA) by Gadolinium-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) but could not detect LA by either CT scanning or angiography. It has been reported that contrast-enhanced MRI is useful to detect LA in SWS. However, we found no reports of enhanced MRI in patients with SWS without facial angioma. If future studies can demonstrate the absence of cortical enhancement by contrast-enhanced MRI in CD with cerebral calcifications, enhanced MRI would become an important tool for differentiating CD from SWS.