Fig. 7.

Magnetic resonance images obtained during the subacute stage of CO intoxication in a 47-year-old man with a history of heroin abuse found unconscious at home. Diffusion-weighted (a), FLAIR (c) and T2-weighted images (d) disclosed prominent, bilateral and symmetrical confluent hyperintensities in the centrum semiovalis that were more evident in the fronto-parietal lobes (arrows). On ADC maps (b), white matter lesions appeared moderately hypointense due to reduced water diffusion. As CO intoxication and heroin-associated spongiform leukoencephalopathy may produce similar MRI findings, both events could have resulted in this peculiar MR picture in our patient