Cranial magnetic resonance imaging findings of nutritional Vitamin B12 deficiency in 15 hypotonic infants

Background: Nutritional vitamin B-12 deficieny is common among infants in the developing and underdeveloped countries. There is limited information concerning neuroimaging findings in infants with vitamin B-12 deficiency in the literature. Aims: The aim of this study is to evaluate the cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) changes and clinical characteristics of hypotonic infants due to vitamin B-12 deficiency. Materials and methods: A total of 15 infants with neuroradiologic investigations were diagnosed with nutritional B-12 vitamin deficiency. Cranial MRI was performed on all infants. Results: Five infants were female (33%) and the mean age of infants was 12.3 +/- 5.5 months. Hypotonia and neurodevelopmental retardation were present in all patients. MRI demonstrated thinning of the corpus callosum in 6 (40%), cortical atrophy in 5 (33.3%), large sylvian fissures in 5 (33.3%), ventricular dilatation in 3 (20%), asymetric large lateral ventricle in 2 (13.3%) and delayed in myelination in 2(13.3%) patients. Four infants had normal MRI findings. Conclusion: Because of the importance of vitamin B-12 in the development of the brain, MRI findings may be detected and useful in infants with vitamin B-12 deficiency. (C) 2011 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.