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Rocky Mountain spotted fever: ‘starry sky’ appearance with diffusion-weighted imaging in a child

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Abstract

We present a case of Rocky Mountain spotted fever encephalitis in a child imaged utilizing diffusion-weighted MRI. Although the imaging and clinical manifestations of this entity have been previously described, a review of the literature did not reveal any such cases reported in children utilizing diffusion-weighted imaging. The imaging findings and clinical history are presented as well as a brief review of this disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Division of Pediatric Neuroradiology, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University, 2200 Children’s Way, Ste. 1415, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA

    Seth Crapp, Curtis Wushensky & Sumit Pruthi

  2. Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA

    Dana Harrar

  3. Radiology & Radiological Sciences, Division of Neuroradiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    Megan Strother

Authors
  1. Seth Crapp
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  2. Dana Harrar
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  3. Megan Strother
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  4. Curtis Wushensky
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  5. Sumit Pruthi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sumit Pruthi.

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Crapp, S., Harrar, D., Strother, M. et al. Rocky Mountain spotted fever: ‘starry sky’ appearance with diffusion-weighted imaging in a child. Pediatr Radiol 42, 499–502 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-011-2209-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-011-2209-x

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