Balo's concentric demyelination diagnosed premortem

Neurology. 1986 Dec;36(12):1610-4. doi: 10.1212/wnl.36.12.1610.

Abstract

We report the first antemortem diagnosis of a lesion showing Balo's concentric sclerosis. A patient with a progressive left hemiparesis had a ring-enhancing, low-density right frontal white matter lesion. On myelin stains of a needle biopsy, alternating demyelinated and myelinated zones in the white matter were diagnostic of concentric sclerosis. The patient improved with prednisone therapy, but relapsed temporarily 15 months later. CT and MRI showed additional lesions, but no features unique to this process. He remains alive and employed 3 years after diagnosis.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Biopsy, Needle
  • Brain / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain / pathology
  • Demyelinating Diseases / diagnosis*
  • Demyelinating Diseases / diagnostic imaging
  • Demyelinating Diseases / pathology
  • Diffuse Cerebral Sclerosis of Schilder / diagnosis
  • Diffuse Cerebral Sclerosis of Schilder / diagnostic imaging
  • Hemiplegia / etiology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Prednisone / therapeutic use
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Substances

  • Prednisone