MRI and proton spectroscopy in a child with Rasmussen's encephalitis. Case report.

The greater sensitivity of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) compared with MRI to brain abnormalities in Rasmussen's encephalitis was demonstrated in a 3-year-old boy. The patient, with symptoms, signs and morphological findings consistent with Rasmussen's encephalitis, was followed with MRI and MRS over 30 months. That metabolic changes can be disclosed by MRS before the development of symptoms or signs was demonstrated as pathological spectra were found not only in the diseased left hemisphere but also in the morphologically normal right hemisphere before any neurological disturbance of that side.