Decreased T2 signal in the thalami may be a sign of lysosomal storage disease.

Introduction: Lysosomal disorders are rare and are caused by genetically transmitted lysosomal enzyme deficiencies. A decreased T2 signal in the thalamus has occasionally been reported.

Aims: Because the finding of bilateral abnormal signal intensity of the thalamus on T2-weighted images has not been systematically reviewed, and its value as a diagnostic tool critically evaluated, we carried out a systematic review of the literature.

Methods: Articles in English with 30 trios of keywords were collected from PubMed. Exclusion criteria were lack of conventional T2-weighted images in the protocol and not being a human study. Finally, 111 articles were included. The thalamus was considered affected only if mentioned in the text or in the figure legends.

Results: Some 117 patients with various lysosomal diseases and five patients with ceruloplasmin deficiency were reported to have a bilateral decrease in T2 signal intensity. At least one article reported a bilateral decrease in signal intensity of the thalami on T2-weighted images in association with GM1 and GM2 gangliosidosis and with Krabbe's disease, aspartylglucosaminuria, mannosidosis, fucosidosis, and mucolipidosis IV. Furthermore, thalamic alteration was a consistent finding in several types of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL) including CLN1 (infantile NCL), CLN2 (classic late infantile NCL), CLN3 (juvenile NCL), CLN5 (Finnish variant late infantile NCL), and CLN7 (Turkish variant late infantile NCL).

Conclusion: A decrease in T2 signal intensity in the thalami seems to be a sign of lysosomal disease.