Acute radiological pattern and outcome in posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome patients.

OBJECTIVE: Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a neurological disorder of acute or subacute onset characterized by varied neurological symptoms including headache, impaired visual acuity or visual field deficits, confusion, disorders of consciousness, seizures, and motor neurological deficits. Even if recognition of severe forms of PRES has improved, mainly due to magnetic resonance imaging, pathogenesis is still unclear and management of these patients remains challenging. Moreover, prognosis is unpredictable varying from complete recovery to death and factors related to prognosis are still lacking. We studied early magnetic resonance imaging characteristics and their relationships with prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis in patients with clinical and neuroradiological charateristics of PRES performing magnetic resonance of the brain within 2 days of symptoms onset. RESULTS: After reviewing site database of magnetic resonance imaging and clinical records compatible with PRES, 157 patients were selected. After imaging reviewing, 25 patients with clinical and neuroradiological diagnosis of PRES were enrolled, 22 (88%) females. Mean age of enrolled patients at presentation was 44.4+18.4 years (range, 21-84 years). Patients were classified according to neuroradiological characteristics such as ischemic lesions, distribution and severity of edema, hemorrhage and contrast enhancement. In our group 23 patients (92%) showed an almost complete recovery but 2 patients (8%) died during hospitalization. Outcome was significantly related with hypointensity on ADC (p = 0.002) and CE (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Early MR features may be helpful in suggesting prognosis. Moreover, neuroimaging at the early stage of PRES may give new insights in pathophysiological mechanisms underlying brain damage and neurological impairment.