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I saw the "Milky Way sign" and the "Barbell sign" in the same patient
Ana Lúcia Xisto Gonçalves1, Rodrigo de Franca Santos2, Luciane Dos Santos Oliveira1
1Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Rio de Janeiro State University, Boulevard 28 de Setembro, 77, Vila Isabel, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 20551-030, Brazil.
Abstract:
The Milky Way sign is characterized by multiple punctate lesions, with hyperintense signal on T2-weighted imaging, with no restricted diffusion and usually no gadolinium-enhancement. The Barbell sign is seen as a lesion extending across the splenium of the corpus callosum, with hyperintense signal on T2-weighted imaging with no or minimal mass effect, no gadolinium-enhancement, and no restricted diffusion or only a thin rim of peripheral restricted diffusion. Although these signs have differential diagnoses, in the correct clinical setting, they are suggestive of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). In this article, we present a case of PML in a man with a recent diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus infection, who was not using antiretroviral therapy, and presented with both the Milky Way sign and the Barbell sign on a brain magnetic resonance imaging.

