Leukoencephalopathies and metabolic diseases

Leukoencephalopathies and metabolic diseases comprise a great number of heterogeneous disorders. Diagnosis of these disorders may be challenging at times, requiring sophisticated laboratory investigations. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is useful in supporting diagnosis even though it bears problems of specificity. Quantitative MRI techniques, providing information on cerebral metabolites and tissue microstructure within and outside visible lesions, have proven to be important for understanding the pathogenic mechanisms leading to tissue damage and monitoring disease evolution and response to treatment. This has prompted a more extensive use of these techniques in the clinical setting as a complement to the traditional MRI.