Cerebral manifestation of Erdheim-Chester disease: clinical and radiologic findings

Neurology. 1997 Dec;49(6):1702-5. doi: 10.1212/wnl.49.6.1702.

Abstract

A 33-year-old woman presented with a 3-year history of progressive numbness in the hand, cerebellar ataxia, limb weakness, nystagmus, and dysarthria. T2-weighted MRI revealed abnormal foci of increased signal intensity mimicking demyelinating plaques in the periventricular white matter, and brain 18FDG-PET scan showed increased uptake in the pons. Biopsy from a tibial lesion showed aggregates of foamy histiocytes in the intertrabecular spaces replacing the bone marrow, characteristic of Erdheim-Chester disease. The patient was treated with craniospinal radiation. After 6 months, the clinical picture was stable and the MRI was unchanged.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Arthrography
  • Brain / pathology
  • Brain Diseases / diagnosis*
  • Brain Diseases / etiology*
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Female
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
  • Histiocytosis / complications*
  • Histiocytosis / diagnosis*
  • Humans
  • Knee Joint / diagnostic imaging
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Multiple Sclerosis / diagnosis
  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Tomography, Emission-Computed

Substances

  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18