Evaluation of Children with Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis Using Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

This study aimed to evaluate metabolite ratios in the brain parenchyma of patients with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). The study compared 32 children diagnosed with SSPE with a control group of 20 healthy children. Comparisons were made between the study and control groups and between children who had various stages of the disease, as well as between MRS values obtained from the frontal subcortical white matter and parieto-occipital white matter regions by multivoxel MRS imaging. MRS may make a contribution to diagnosis and follow-up of children with SSPE as findings reflecting neuronal loss may be revealed by this imaging technique.