MR imaging appearance of childhood adrenoleukodystrophy with auditory, visual, and motor pathway involvement.

Childhood adrenoleukodystrophy is an X chromosome-linked disorder characterized by progressive demyelination of cerebral white matter and adrenal insufficiency. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed in 15 patients with symptomatic disease and three with presymptomatic disease. MR imaging findings were abnormal only in symptomatic patients. Major sites of disease were the occipital, parietal, and temporal lobes, with all patients showing involvement of occipital lobes, optic radiations, and splenium of the corpus callosum. Follow-up images obtained in four patients demonstrated a posterior-to-anterior progression of disease. Correlation of results from MR imaging with those from evoked potential studies indicated that MR imaging was the method of choice for detecting demyelination of visual, auditory, and motor systems in adrenoleukodystrophy.