Clinical 1 H MRS in childhood neurometabolic diseases - part 2: MRS signatures.

Proton MRS of the brain provides the ability to gather direct information regarding the metabolic status of the brain at the time of MRI. Although selective vulnerability of brain tissue may yield distinct imaging patterns in neurometabolic disorders, it is not uncommon for the brain MRI to be normal, nonspecific, or show ambiguous abnormalities among several possible diagnoses, metabolic, or otherwise. This review highlights childhood neurometabolic diseases in which 1 H MRS may show diagnostic or suggestive metabolic profiles without complicated acquisition or postprocessing techniques.