Right Hemispheric Leukoencephalopathy as an Incidental Finding Following a Lightning Strike

Lightning injuries may produce a variety of medical conditions, and specific neurological complications have been identified, with the character of immediate aftershock effects or even long-term consequences.

The authors describe the incidental finding following a routine unenhanced brain MRI performed to a young female patient, suffering from a headache.

Diffuse white matter changes with the character of a leukoencephalopathy were seen, which strictly interested only the right cerebral hemisphere. The parents referred that she suffered from an indoor lightning strike at age of seven months, although she survived with almost no external burns or signs, and recovered uneventfully at that time. A discussion over the effects of electrocution and lightning strike on the human body in general, and over the nervous system, is made. Particular attention must be shown when making the differential diagnosis of leukoencephalopathies with a strictly one-hemisphere extension since several other conditions might resemble each other under the radiological aspect, here including brain viral infections, genetic disorders, and so on.

The particularity of the long-term aftershock effects of the lightning strike on the central nervous system raise again the necessity of collecting data and duly reporting every electrical accident, lightning events included.