Purpose: The goal of this study was to follow over time the MR imaging features of cortical laminar necrosis.
Patients and methods: Six patients with cortical laminar necrosis were included. There were two women and four men aged 54-84 years, with a mean age of 68 years. In four patients, cortical laminar necrosis was caused by ischemic stroke, one case occurred after a cardiac arrest and the last patient had a meningoencephalitis. The time delay from insult to the first MR study varied between one week and 3 months.
Results: The MRI showed hyperintense lesions in the cerebral cortex on T1W and T2W images. The high intensity signal was still observed a few months after the insult. Cortical laminar necrosis lesions did not demonstrate hemorrhage on CT and MRI studies.
Conclusion: MRI allowed detection of cortical laminar necrosis and could differentiate it from hemorrhage.