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Voltage-gated potassium channel complex encephalitis is a common form of autoimmune encephalitis presenting with intractable seizures that may respond to immunotherapy. These authors reviewed the imaging findings in 42 such patients and the most common abnormalities noted were enlargement, T2 hyperintensity, contrast enhancement, and restricted diffusion in the mesial temporal lobes with subsequent development of hippocampal atrophy. Because the disease can be confirmed easily by the presence of voltage-gated potassium channel complex antibodies, these imaging findings should prompt serologic testing.

The authors used DTI to study posttraumatic white matter changes over a 5-year period. Thirteen patients with severe injuries acutely showed significant fractional anisotropy decreases in the corpus callosum and corona radiata when compared with controls. These abnormalities progressed at 2 years and then remained stable until 5 years. The DTI abnormalities correlated with sequelae such as amnesia, aphasia, and dyspraxia.

Healthy individuals who either had no relatives with multiple sclerosis or had a family history of it were studied and evaluated according the Okuda and Swanton criteria for radiologically isolated syndrome. These investigators found that the frequency of white matter signal abnormalities and radiologically isolated syndrome were higher in the healthy relatives of patients with multiple sclerosis compared with nonfamilial healthy control subjects. In healthy relatives of patients with MS, smoking and obesity also contributed to the presence of white matter lesions.