Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Patients with Migration Disorders

Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (1H-MRS) can be used to detect cerebral metabolites including N-acetylaspartate (NAA)，creatine (Cr) and choline (Ch). Hence，clinical applications of this method for neuropediatric diseases can be expected. However，regarding neuronal migration disorders，there have been only a few reported studies. We therefore examined the lH-MRS in six patients with migration disorders，ages ranged from 8months to 28years 10months with a mean of 10years 10months. Investigation was performed using Magnetom H15 (Siemens) with a repetition time of 1500 msec and an echo time of 270msec. The ratio of NAA/Cr，Ch/Cr were examined. The volume of interest with the size of 2 × 2 × 2 ～ 3 × 3 × 5cm3 was chosen in the area including lesions，and a contralateral area without lesions was also investigated. Results were as follows. 1) The ratio of NAA/Cr was low in the area with lesions in all 6cases; 1.41，1.95，2.27 and 1.71 in cases with heterotopic gray matter，0.99 in one case with polymicrogyria，an d 1.30 in one case with hemimegalencephaly，contrasted with a contralataral area without lesions: 1.89， 2.89，2.87，2.55，3.26，2.03，respectively. 2) The ratio of Ch/Cr showed no consistent difference between the area including lesions and contralataral area without lesions. Our findings of a decreased NAA/Cr ratio can be inferred to reflect the decreased numbers of neuronal cell population，or reduced metabolism in the lesions