Magnetic resonance imaging as a tool of differential diagnostic in the brainstem damage in children

In this review, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is presented as a tool for the differential diagnostics of the brainstem lesions in children. It has been shown that both the isolated brainstem lesions or those related to the supratentorial changes occur within a wide range of pathological conditions - in acute stroke, dismetabolic disorders, inflammatory processes of both the infectious and non-infectious (autoimmune, paraneoplastic) etiology, neurodegenerative diseases, tumors. A small size of the brainstem, as well as a less clear distinction between the gray and white matter and certain limitations of visualization of the infratentorial structures with multiparametric MRI often lead to difficulties in the differential diagnosis. Sometimes the most important in the diagnostics is the topography of lesions and their signal intensity. Nevertheless, the clinical data, the results of epidemiological and laboratory studies are of primary importance for the differential diagnosis of brainstem lesions.