Simultaneous 18F-FDG PET/MRI Assists Diagnosis of a Rare Disease, MELAS

Clin Nucl Med. 2019 Jan;44(1):81-82. doi: 10.1097/RLU.0000000000002344.

Abstract

MELAS (mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes) is a rare congenital mitochondrial DNA mutation disease. Here, we report a 4-year-old girl, who presented with short stature, mental retardation, and recurrent seizures, underwent simultaneous F-FDG PET/MRI examination. An interesting contradiction images were found on bilateral frontal, left temporal, occipital, and parietal lobes, which were with high blood flow shown on 3D-ASL perfusion images, but low uptake of F-FDG on PET images. The contradiction of high blood flow and low glucose metabolism gave us a clue to make the diagnosis of MELAS. The final diagnosis was MELAS confirmed by genetic testing.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Child, Preschool
  • Female
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
  • Humans
  • MELAS Syndrome / diagnostic imaging*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
  • Multimodal Imaging*
  • Positron-Emission Tomography*
  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Rare Diseases

Substances

  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18