Diffusion-Weighted Imaging of Pediatric Brain

Abstract

The pediatric brain is not a “small adult brain”; different types of diseases and their mechanisms in the pediatric brain are remarkably different from those of the adult brain. Meninges, blood-brain/CSF barrier, and myelin sheaths are immature. Postnatal period of brain development is vulnerable to excitotoxic injury. The distribution and types of various receptors in the pediatric brain are different from those of adults. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) has high tissue characteristics and can differentiate viscous fluid, abscess, hematoma, cellular edema, necrosis, and hypercellular neoplasm. It is indispensable for a correct diagnosis and differential diagnosis to consider the background pathology and pathophysiology when interpreting DWI of pediatric brain.