Cranial Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings in Kwashiorkor

Abstract

Protein energy malnutrition (PEM) is an important public health problem in the developing countries, although it is becoming uncommon in South West Nigeria. Cerebral changes have been associated with severe PEM. This study evaluated the neurological changes using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in Ibadan south west Nigeria. The 5 children evaluated had a median age of 16 months and all the children had brain changes compatible with cerebral atrophy. In addition two of the children had periventricular white matter changes, while one these two had mega cisterna magna in addition. Though this study did not re-evaluate the brains of these children after nutritional rehabilitation, it is possible that changes are reversible as demonstrated in earlier studies.

Estimation of Serum Neurokinin A Level in Correlation to Visual Evoked Potentials and Morphological Brain Changes in Malnourished Children: A Follow-Up Case-Control Study

“…Here, brain atrophy measured by MRI was grade 2 in 15 (50%), grade 1 in 7 (23%) and grade 3 in 6(20%) of malnourished cases. This was in agreement with El-Sherif et al study, 2012 who found that cerebral atrophy and a dilated ventricle were the commonest MRI findings seen in the children suffering from severe malnutrition and also comes in concordance with the study carried by Atalabi et al, 2010 [20,21] . Odabaş et al, 2005 showed that all malnourished children had cerebral atrophy and 75% of the children had cerebral atrophy plus ventricular dilatation but none of the children had abnormality in the brain stem or cerebellum [22] Moreover, we found insignificant difference regarding serum albumin between malnourished children and healthy controls.…”

Corpus callosum thickness on mid-sagittal MRI as a marker of brain volume: a pilot study in children with HIV-related brain disease and controls

“…(c) Controls may have had low brain volumes due to malnutrition [33] or other chronic infections. Our controls were not normal, but rather, comprised children with normal MRI scans, keeping in mind that subjective MRI reporting as well as the review by the pediatric neuroradiologist lacks sensitivity for subtle volume loss [34].…”

A comparative study of the prevalence and correlates of psychiatric disorders in Almajiris and public primary school pupils in Zaria, Northwest Nigeria

“…The child’s vocabulary, problem solving skills, attention and motor coordination all increase significantly during this period. Thus there is a likelihood of malnutrition and attendant risks of poor cognitive development where nutrition is inadequate either in terms of the quantity or quality [10, 16, 18]. …”