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- INTRODUCTION
- ANATOMY and FUNCTION
- RADIOLOGICAL ANATOMY
- MR LESION PATTERNS
- CONGENITAL ANOMALIES
- Hippocampal Dysplasia in:
- -Agenesis of Corpus
Callosum
- -Lissencephaly and
Holoprosencephaly
- Focal Cortical Dysplasia
- Focal Malformations of
Neuronal Migration
- Hippocampal Sulcus Remnant
- Cysts of Choroidal Fissure
- NEUROFIBROMATOSIS TYPE 1
- HIPPOCAMPAL SCLEROSIS
- STATUS EPILEPTICUS
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- TRANSIENT GLOBAL AMNESIA
- ISCHEMIA and INFARCTION
- VASCULAR MALFORMATIONS
- -Cavernous Angiomas
- -Arteriovenous
Malformations
- MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
- PRIMARY BRAIN TUMORS
- -Fibrillary Astrocytoma
- -Gangliogliomas
- -DNET
- -Anaplastic Astrocytoma
and GBM
- LIMBIC ENCEPHALITIS
- NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDERS
- CONCLUSIONS
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- The hippocampus can be divided into three parts, according to its
position with respect to the corpus callosum: the precommissural, the
supracommissural, and the retrocommissural.
- The precommissural hippocampus and the supracom-missural hippocampus are
vestigial structures and are relatively small; the former is situated in
the caudal portion of the subcallosal area, immediately rostral to the
septum verum, and the second, made up of indusium griseum, extends along
the entire length of the corpus callosum ( Fig. 1).
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- The retrocommissural hippocampus, the most caudal portion of this
structure, constitutes part of the internal surface of the temporal
lobe. During development, it wraps around itself along the hippocampal
fissure, protruding while conforming to the floor of the temporal horn.
The hippocampal gyrus continues directly, in the posterior zone of the
splenium of the corpus callosum, with the cingulate gyrus.
- The retrocommissural hippocampus is clearly divided into three
structures lying longitudinally: the dentate gyrus, Ammon’s horn, and
the subiculum. The most anterior portion of the retrocommissural
hippocampus curves dorsally to form a rounded mass known as the uncus .
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- The cortex of the hippocampus (Cornu Ammonis) can be subdivided,
according to its thickness, size, and cellular density, into four zones:
CA1, CA2, CA3, and CA4 .
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- The hippocampus, the parahippocampal gyrus, and the cingulate gyrus make
up the limbic system. Two large bundles of association fibers, the
fornix and the cingulum, also participate in both the external and
internal arcs of the limbic system .
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- The components of the limbic system, together with the subcortical
nuclei to which it is connected, are thought to be involved in the
elaboration and expression of emotions and in the pathophysiology of
affective disorders, certain dementias, and other neuropsychiatric
disorders.
- Evidence also implicates the hippocampus and the limbic system as
crucial to learning and memory, particularly in the formation of
long-term memory, as it is directly or indirectly connected to all parts
of the brain, especially to the enthorinal cortical area, septal nuclei,
hypothalamus, and brainstem.
- The limbic system, especially the hippocampal struc-tures, fornix, and
mammillary bodies, may be crucial in the pathogenesis of many cases of
epilepsy.
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- Congenital anomalies of the hippocampus can be seen in association with agenesis
of the corpus callosum
, lissencephaly , and occasionally ho-loprosencephaly . The hippocampi are
generally small in these disorders and have an abnormal vertical
orientation consistent with incomplete inversion of the hippocampus
during development; the ipsilateral temporal horn is generally enlarged
and elongated vertically as well .
- Abnormal development of the
hippocampus can be seen in up to 73% of cases of agenesis of the corpus
callosum.
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- Abnormalities of other portions of the limbic system can also be
identified on MR in association with septooptic dysplasia, including
dysgenesis of the corpus callosum and hippocampal hypoplasia, as well as
an abnormally low position of the fornix.
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- MR findings
- Hippocampal atrophy
- T2 high signal intensity
- Loss of internal structure
- Histopathology
- Neuronal loss
- (CA1, CA3, CA4)
- Glial proliferation
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- MR signal changes (increased T2 signal intensity, increase volume of the
affected grey matter) have been described in the hippocampus in patients
during the periictal phase of status epilepticus .
- These lesions are usually
hyperintense on diffusion-weighted images, and probably reflect
transient cyto-toxic edema induced by the electrical activity.
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- Follow-up MR exams demonstrate that these signal abnormalities are usually reversible , a factor that helps to
exclude a structural epileptogenic lesion.
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- However, in some cases the reversibility of the high signal intensity is
associated with some focal brain atrophy .
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- Ischemia, commonly associated with asphyxia in the perinatal and
neonatal periods, is typically manifested by injury to the deep grey
matter including the hippocampus
; this may be due to a
relatively high level of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in the
hippocampus, pos-sibly enhancing
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- In adulthood, infarctions limited to the hippocampus and the
ventro-posterolateral thalamus
are produced in occlusions of the posterior cerebral artery near
its origin, with distal flow from the posterior communicating artery .
- In these situations the
infarction may be limited to the areas irrigated by the branches
originating in the proximal part of the artery.
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- More commonly, hippocampal infarctions occur as a consequence of
thrombotic or embolic occlusion of the proximal segment of the posterior
cerebral artery or the basilar artery. In these situations the
infarction is not limited to the hippocampus, but also affects other
structures irrigated by the posterior circulation .
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- Primary brain tumors can selectively affect the deep structures of the
temporal lobe, including the hippo-campus and amygdala.
- These lesions constitute
10%-20% of cases of temporal lobe epilepsy, and mainly correspond to
low-grade tumors such as fibrillary astrocytoma , ganglioglioma , dysembryoplastic
neuroepithelial tumor (DNET) and glioblastoma
multiforme .
- An accurate histological
diagnosis is difficult with MR imaging, since these tumors share many
characteristics: absence or mild edema, contrast enhancement and mass
effect, well-circumscribed margins, and presence of calcifications.
- Some demographic ( Table 1) and
radiological ( Table 2) data
may be useful for differentiating the most common low-grade tumors
affecting the hippocampus.
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