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detectable by neuroimaging. It has been reported branching in animals exposed to toluene, which
that in chronic toluene abusers, MRI often reveals might be a promising treatment for toluene-induced
diffuse atrophy of the cerebrum, cerebellum, leukoencephalopathy. [10] Further studies are needed in
and brainstem (also discernible with computed order to develop more effective therapeutic strategies
tomography), increased periventricular white matter for this disease.
signal on T2-weighted images, and loss of gray
matter-white matter differentiation across the cortex. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The severity of these abnormalities is considered
to be associated with the duration of abuse and This study was supported by Army Health Care
concentration of toluene. [2,5] In this case, MRI shows Project (13BJZ31).
a characteristic “sunflower-like” change and abnormal
signal in the cerebellar dentate nuclei [Figure 1], REFERENCES
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may be involved in the mechanism of toluene-induced
leukoencephalopathy. [8,9] Damage to white matter
caused by toluene appears to be irreversible, and no Cite this article as: Zeng F, Yang H, Zhou HD, Wang YJ. Toluene-induced
leukoencephalopathy with characteristic magnetic resonance imaging
treatment is currently known other than abstinence findings. Neuroimmunol Neuroinflammation 2014;1(2):92-4.
or general neurotrophic compounds. Melatonin was Source of Support: Nil. Conflict of Interest: No.
recently reported to reverse the reduction in dendritic Received: 27-04-2014; Accepted: 18-07-2014

94 Neuroimmunol Neuroinflammation | Volume 1 | Issue 2 | September 2014