Abstract

ENRIQUEZ-MARULANDA, Alejandro; URIBE-BECERRA, Juan Pablo; GRANADOS, Ana María  and  SHINCHI, Masaru. High-intensity signal in the corticospinal tract in MRI as a sign of upper motor neuron lesion in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Case report and literature review. Acta Neurol Colomb. [online]. 2017, vol.33, n.2, pp.99-103. ISSN 0120-8748.  https://doi.org/10.22379/24224022140.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder that mainly involves the motor system. It may be sporadic or hereditary, and has an incidence ranging from 1.5 to 2.7 cases per 100,000 persons / year, with a median survival of 2 to 4 years. This disease is characterized by damage of both upper and lower motor neurons, and its clinical manifestations can vary from mild muscle weakness in early stages, to respiratory failure associated in later stages. The diagnosis is based on clinical findings and is made according to the revised El Escorial criteria. Although, the diagnosis of ALS remains a challenge in the early stages and delays it's identification. For this reason, interest to identify new biomarkers that help earlier identification and monitoring of the progression of the disease are being studied. Authors present a case of a woman of 53 years old with a clinical diagnosis of ALS and evidence of corticospinal tract high intensity signal on brain MRI. We will discuss the relevance of brain imaging findings as a biomarker of upper motoneuron damage in ALS.

Keywords : Amyotropic lateral sclerosis; pyramidal tracts; biomarkers; neuroimaging; (MeSH).

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