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A Visual Description of the Dissection of the Cerebral Surface Vasculature and Associated Meninges and the Choroid Plexus from Rat Brain
Published on: November 14, 2012
Methadone-induced toxic brain damage.
Jérôme Corré1, Jérôme Pillot, Gilles Hilbert
1Medical Intensive Care Unit, Bordeaux University Hospital, Pellegrin Hospital, 33000 Bordeaux, France.
Case Reports in Radiology
|June 14, 2013
Summary
Methadone overdose can cause rare brain imaging changes in the cerebellum and basal ganglia. This case highlights unusual FLAIR and DWI hyperintensities in these areas following intoxication.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Toxicology
- Neurology
Background:
- Methadone is an opioid agonist used for pain management and opioid use disorder treatment.
- Intoxication can lead to central nervous system depression and various neurological complications.
- Cerebellar and basal ganglia involvement in methadone overdose is rarely reported.
Purpose of the Study:
- To report a rare case of methadone overdose with concurrent cerebellar and basal ganglia involvement.
- To describe the characteristic neuroimaging findings in this specific clinical presentation.
Main Methods:
- Case report of a 29-year-old male patient with methadone intoxication.
- Cerebral computed tomography (CT) scan.
- Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including FLAIR and Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) sequences.
Main Results:
- Cerebral CT showed hypodense signals in the right cerebellar hemisphere.
- Brain MRI revealed FLAIR and DWI hyperintensities in both cerebellar hemispheres and basal ganglia (globi pallidi).
- These findings were consistent with methadone overdose.
Conclusions:
- This is the first reported case detailing both cerebellar and basal ganglia involvement in methadone overdose.
- Advanced MRI sequences like FLAIR and DWI are crucial for identifying these rare neurotoxic effects.
- Clinicians should consider methadone toxicity in patients presenting with coma and these specific brain imaging abnormalities.
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