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Tractography demonstrates dentate-rubro-thalamic tract disruption in an adult with cerebellar mutism
Kirsten van Baarsen1, Michiel Kleinnijenhuis, Tom Konert
1Department of Neurosurgery, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Huispost 636 Neurochirurgie, Postbus 9101, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, k.vanbaarsen@nch.umcn.nl
A 55-year-old female is presented with transient cerebellar mutism caused by a well-circumscribed left pontine infarction due to postoperative basilar perforator occlusion. Although conventional T2 imaging shows a well-demarcated lesion confined to the pontine region, diffusion tensor imaging shows an asymmetry in fractional anisotropy in the superior cerebellar peduncle. This supports the general hypothesis that cerebellar mutism is caused by functional disruption of the dentate-rubro-thalamic tract. Correlating postoperative anatomic changes to a heterogenic clinical syndrome remains challenging, however.
A 55-year-old female is presented with transient cerebellar mutism caused by a well-circumscribed left pontine infarction due to postoperative basilar perforator occlusion. Although conventional T2 imaging shows a well-demarcated lesion confined to the pontine region, diffusion tensor imaging shows an asymmetry in fractional anisotropy in the superior cerebellar peduncle. This supports the general hypothesis that cerebellar mutism is caused by functional disruption of the dentate-rubro-thalamic tract. Correlating postoperative anatomic changes to a heterogenic clinical syndrome remains challenging, however.
