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  • Title: MELAS: Monitoring treatment with magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
    Author: Hovsepian DA, Galati A, Chong RA, Mazumder R, DeGiorgio CM, Mishra S, Yim C.
    Journal: Acta Neurol Scand; 2019 Jan; 139(1):82-85. PubMed ID: 30216413.
    Abstract:
    BACKGROUND: To assess the utility of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) as a biomarker of response to L-arginine in mitochondrial encephalomyopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS). AIMS: To describe a case of MELAS treated with L-arginine that showed improvement clinically and on serial MRS METHODS: MRS was performed on a 1.5-Tesla scanner to evaluate a MELAS patient before, during, and after intravenous (IV) L-arginine therapy for the treatment of stroke-like episodes. L-arginine was infused at a dose of 500 mg/kg daily for 7 days followed by oral arginine therapy. RESULTS: The patient had clinical improvement after treatment with IV L-arginine. MRS performed before, during, and after treatment with IV L-arginine showed significant improvement in brain lactate and increase in the N-acetylaspartate/Choline (NAA/Cho) ratio compared to pre-treatment baseline. CONCLUSION: Serial MRS imaging showed significant improvement in lactate peaks and NAA/Cho ratios that corresponded with clinical improvement after L-arginine therapy. Given this correlation between radiologic and clinical improvement, MRS may be a useful biomarker assessing response to treatment in MELAS.
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