An approach to MRI of metabolic disorders in children

Inborn errors of metabolism are a difficult group of disorders for the neuroradiologist, as there are few good clinical or neuroradiological criteria for differentiating them. In this review, a technique of diagnosis by pattern recognition, supplemented by metabolic data from proton MR spectroscopy and microstructural data, as assessed by diffusion weighted images, is presented. Proper use of these neuroimaging tools can be very useful for separating these disorders into more manageable groups, and sometimes allows a specific diagnosis to be made.