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[email protected] 153 NEUROLOGIC/HEAD A Adult Leukodystrophies: A Step- by-Step Diagnostic Approach Lucas Lopes Resende, MD N Anderson Rodrigues Brandão de Paiva, Leukodystrophies usually affect children, but in the last several D NECK MD decades, many instances of adult leukodystrophies have been re- Fernando Kok, MD, PhD ported in the medical literature. Because the clinical manifestation Claudia da Costa Leite, MD, PhD of these diseases can be nonspecific, MRI can help with establish- Leandro Tavares Lucato, MD, PhD ing a diagnosis. A step-by-step approach to assist in the diagnosis I of adult leukodystrophies is proposed in this article. The first step MAGI Abbreviations: CADASIL = cerebral auto- is to identify symmetric white matter involvement, which is more somal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical commonly observed in these patients. The next step is to fit the infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, CTX = cere- N brotendinous xanthomatosis, FLAIR = fluid-at- symmetric white matter involvement into one of the proposed pat- G tenuated inversion recovery, X-ALD = X-linked terns. However, a patient may present with more than one pattern adrenoleukodystrophy of white matter involvement. Thus, the third step is to evaluate for RadioGraphics 2019; 39:153–168 five distinct characteristics—including enhancement, lesions with https://doi.org/10.1148/rg.2019180081 signal intensity similar to that of cerebrospinal fluid, susceptibility- Content Codes: weighted MRI signal intensity abnormalities, abnormal peaks at MR spectroscopy, and spinal cord involvement—to further narrow From the Neuroradiology Section, Instituto de Radiologia (InRad), Hospital das Clínicas, Facul- the differential diagnosis.