Wallerian Degeneration of the Pyramidal Tract

Figure 1. Wallerian Degeneration of the Pyramidal Tract. Coronal views of the brain of a 41-year-old man with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and right-sided spastic hemiplegia, aphasia, and hemianopia were obtained by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) eight months after the patient had an intracerebral hemorrhage. The consecutive T2 weighted coronal MRI slices show the old hematoma as an irregular lesion, which is hypointense because of hemosiderin deposition; dilatation of the left lateral ventricle is also evident. In addition, a long band of increased signal intensity traces the anatomical course of the pyramidal tract from the lesion in the internal… © 1994, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.