Differential Changes on Diffusion-Weighted MRI in a Patient with Partial Status Epilepticus: Case Report

We report a patient who showed mixed cytotoxic and vasogenic edema on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in association with partial status epilepticus. The patient experienced clonic movements of the left arm and leg. As the clonic movements continued, resulting eventually in epilepsia partialis continua, MRI showed characteristic cytotoxic edema in the epileptogenic focus and vasogenic edema in the region remote from the epileptogenic focus. The aim of this report is to support the evidence that partial seizure spreads through efferent projections from the cerebral cortex to the cerebellum, and findings of serially followed MRI suggest that cytotoxic edema persisted for a long time in contrast to vasogenic edema.