Computerized Tomography in Demyelinating Disease of the Young

We have used computerized tomography (CT) to look for evidence of cerebral demyelination in children with progressive neurologic disorders. Fourteen patients with a clinical diagnosis of a demyelinating disorder were examined by CT, and five had CT findings suggesting cerebral demyelination. In two patients with a so-called myelinoclastic demyelinating disease, CT showed asymmetric, circumscribed areas of diminished radiodensity, and in three patients with a leukodystrophy, scans showed diffuse symmetric areas of low density in the centrum ovale. Autopsy examination in one patient confirmed the diagnosis of sudanophilic leukodystrophy and substantiated the abnormalities suspected from CT.