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Case Report

Exp Neurobiol 2015; 24(2): 169-172

Published online June 30, 2015

https://doi.org/10.5607/en.2015.24.2.169

© The Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences

Balo’s Concentric Sclerosis Mimicking Cerebral Tuberculoma

Yoo-Ri Son#, Hyeran Yang#, Sehoon Lee, Jee-Young Kim, Suk Geun Han and Kyung Seok Park*

Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam 463-707, Korea

Correspondence to: *To whom correspondence should be addressed.
TEL: 82-31-787-7469, FAX: 82-31-719-6815
e-mail: kpark78@naver.com
#SYR and YHR contributed equally to this article.

Received: January 22, 2015; Revised: May 19, 2015; Accepted: June 11, 2015

Abstract

Balo's concentric sclerosis (BCS) is considered a rare variant of multiple sclerosis, which often mimics an intracranial neoplasm or abscess. We report the case of a 21-year-old woman presenting with BCS while undergoing treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis. Initial brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings were similar to those for cerebral tuberculoma, multiple metastases, or abscesses. However, the pathognomonic concentric sclerosis characteristic of BCS was seen on MRI. The antemortem confirmatory diagnosis of BCS was made by follow-up MRI and a brain biopsy. It is suggested that BCS should be included in the differential diagnosis of cerebral tuberculoma, especially in developing countries with a high prevalence of tuberculosis.

Keywords: Balo’s concentric sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, corticosteroids, cerebral tuberculoma