Coenzyme Q therapy has been used to support metabolic derangements in patients with mitochondrial encephalomyopathies. Biochemical analysis of the living human brain can be performed by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). We report upon a KSS patient who was serially imaged with localized proton MRS to monitor the efficacy of CoQ treatment. A 17-year-old girl with KSS was serially imaged with localized proton MRS performed on a GE 1.5 T SIGNA MRI/MRS system. The elevated lactate contents of lesions decreased after one month of CoQ therapy but were re-elevated 10 months after treatment. We conclude that MRS presents us with a powerful tool for monitoring the effects of therapeutic trials in mitochondrial encephalomyopathies.
Adolescence ; Brain/metabolism ; Brain/drug effects ; Case Report ; Female ; Human ; Kearns Syndrome/metabolism* ; Kearns Syndrome/drug therapy* ; Kearns Syndrome/diagnosis ; Lactic Acid/metabolism ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy/diagnostic use* ; Pyruvic Acid/metabolism* ; Treatment Outcome ; Ubiquinone/therapeutic use*