Journal List > J Korean Soc Radiol > v.66(3) > 1087082

Kim and Kim: Dialysis Disequilibrium Syndrome-Induced Cerebral Edema in a Patient with Uremia Following Hemodialysis: A Case Report

Abstract

Dialysis disequilibrium syndrome is a metabolic complication that can be caused by rapid removal of plasma urea during hemodialysis. Dialysis disequilibrium syndrome can lead to osmotic demyelinating syndrome. This case report describes one case of encephalopathy accompanied by dialysis disequilibrium syndrome with imaging findings acquired immediately after hemodialysis in a 55-year-old woman with chronic renal failure. The patient was observed to present repetitive seizures and sudden deterioration of consciousness immediately after hemodialysis. Shortly after the onset of symptoms, the patient underwent a CT scan. The imaging findings of the CT scan reveal symmetrical diffuse white matter edema of bilateral cerebral hemispheres that extends to the pons along the internal capsule. A follow-up MRI taken two years later shows that reversible changes without damage have occurred in the lesions. The patient can thus be seen to present symptoms characteristically associated with dialysis disequilibrium syndrome, while brain imaging reveals diffuse reversible brain edema.

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