MRI findings in human rabies: A case report on the importance of neuroimaging when biological tests are inconclusive

Q4 Medicine

Radiology Case Reports Pub Date : 2025-04-12 DOI:10.1016/j.radcr.2025.03.056

Zakaria Chahbi MD, Said Adnor MD, Soufiane Bigi MD, Mounir Salek MD, Soukaina Wakrim PhD

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Rabies is a rare but fatal viral infection affecting the central nervous system, often presenting with nonspecific symptoms that can delay diagnosis. We report the case of a 14-year-old boy who presented with fever, headache, neck stiffness, photophobia, and convulsions, initially mimicking other central nervous system infections. Brain and spine MRI revealed hyperintense signals in the bilateral basal ganglia, thalami, limbic cortex and brainstem on T2-weighted and FLAIR images, without restricted diffusion on diffusion-weighted imaging and an MR spectroscopy consistent with rabies encephalitis. Spinal cord MRI showed an hyperintense signal that resolved on follow-up imaging after one month. This case highlights the role of MRI in detecting early neuroimaging changes in rabies encephalitis and underscores the need for clinical correlation for timely diagnosis and management. Further studies are needed to better define the utility of MRI in rabies encephalitis.

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人类狂犬病的磁共振成像发现：一份病例报告，说明在生物检测无法得出结论时神经成像的重要性

狂犬病是一种影响中枢神经系统的罕见但致命的病毒感染，通常表现为可延迟诊断的非特异性症状。我们报告一个14岁男孩的病例，他表现为发烧，头痛，颈部僵硬，畏光和抽搐，最初模仿其他中枢神经系统感染。脑和脊柱MRI显示双侧基底节区、丘脑、边缘皮层和脑干的t2加权和FLAIR图像显示高信号，弥散加权成像和MR波谱显示无限制扩散，符合狂犬病脑炎。脊髓MRI显示一个高信号，在一个月后的随访成像中消退。本病例强调了MRI在检测狂犬病脑炎早期神经影像学改变中的作用，并强调了及时诊断和治疗的临床相关性的必要性。需要进一步的研究来更好地确定MRI在狂犬病脑炎中的应用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Radiology Case Reports Medicine-Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging

CiteScore

1.10

自引率

0.00%

发文量

1074

审稿时长

30 days

期刊介绍： The content of this journal is exclusively case reports that feature diagnostic imaging. Categories in which case reports can be placed include the musculoskeletal system, spine, central nervous system, head and neck, cardiovascular, chest, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, multisystem, pediatric, emergency, women''s imaging, oncologic, normal variants, medical devices, foreign bodies, interventional radiology, nuclear medicine, molecular imaging, ultrasonography, imaging artifacts, forensic, anthropological, and medical-legal. Articles must be well-documented and include a review of the appropriate literature.