Bright tongue sign as a radiological clue of bulbar onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A case report
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by degeneration of motor neurons, with the tongue often involved in clinical presentation. In this case, a 60-year-old female presented with progressive choking episodes and speech slurring over 9 months, exhibiti...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-09-01
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| Series: | Radiology Case Reports |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1930043325004790 |
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| author | Seid Mohammed Shobe Dereje Melka Mesfin Mulugeta Leul Adane |
| author_facet | Seid Mohammed Shobe Dereje Melka Mesfin Mulugeta Leul Adane |
| author_sort | Seid Mohammed Shobe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by degeneration of motor neurons, with the tongue often involved in clinical presentation. In this case, a 60-year-old female presented with progressive choking episodes and speech slurring over 9 months, exhibiting dysarthria, prominent tongue atrophy, fasciculations, and hyperreflexia. Needle electromyography (EMG) showed diffuse chronic neurogenic changes with signs of active denervation changes prominent on the tongue and right arm with normal sensory nerve studies. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain imaging revealed a Diffuse T1 Weighted image (T1WI) hyperintense of tongue known as ''bright tongue sign'' indicating fatty infiltration of tongue muscles, consistent with neurogenic atrophy. This case underscores the importance of recognizing this characteristic tongue hyperintensity as a valuable radiological clue in diagnosing bulbar-onset ALS and highlights the potential for early diagnosis to improve patient management and outcomes |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2fbe62a31faa40fa80964168fd46d116 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1930-0433 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Radiology Case Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-2fbe62a31faa40fa80964168fd46d1162025-08-20T03:50:22ZengElsevierRadiology Case Reports1930-04332025-09-012094338434110.1016/j.radcr.2025.05.044Bright tongue sign as a radiological clue of bulbar onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A case reportSeid Mohammed Shobe0Dereje Melka1Mesfin Mulugeta2Leul Adane3Department of Radiology, Addis Ababa University School of Medicine, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Corresponding author.Department of Neurology, Addis Ababa University School of Medicine, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaDepartment of Radiology, Addis Ababa University School of Medicine, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaDepartment of Radiology, Addis Ababa University School of Medicine, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by degeneration of motor neurons, with the tongue often involved in clinical presentation. In this case, a 60-year-old female presented with progressive choking episodes and speech slurring over 9 months, exhibiting dysarthria, prominent tongue atrophy, fasciculations, and hyperreflexia. Needle electromyography (EMG) showed diffuse chronic neurogenic changes with signs of active denervation changes prominent on the tongue and right arm with normal sensory nerve studies. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain imaging revealed a Diffuse T1 Weighted image (T1WI) hyperintense of tongue known as ''bright tongue sign'' indicating fatty infiltration of tongue muscles, consistent with neurogenic atrophy. This case underscores the importance of recognizing this characteristic tongue hyperintensity as a valuable radiological clue in diagnosing bulbar-onset ALS and highlights the potential for early diagnosis to improve patient management and outcomeshttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1930043325004790Bright tongue signCase reportMRI |
| spellingShingle | Seid Mohammed Shobe Dereje Melka Mesfin Mulugeta Leul Adane Bright tongue sign as a radiological clue of bulbar onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A case report Radiology Case Reports Bright tongue sign Case report MRI |
| title | Bright tongue sign as a radiological clue of bulbar onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A case report |
| title_full | Bright tongue sign as a radiological clue of bulbar onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A case report |
| title_fullStr | Bright tongue sign as a radiological clue of bulbar onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A case report |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bright tongue sign as a radiological clue of bulbar onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A case report |
| title_short | Bright tongue sign as a radiological clue of bulbar onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A case report |
| title_sort | bright tongue sign as a radiological clue of bulbar onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis a case report |
| topic | Bright tongue sign Case report MRI |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1930043325004790 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT seidmohammedshobe brighttonguesignasaradiologicalclueofbulbaronsetamyotrophiclateralsclerosisacasereport AT derejemelka brighttonguesignasaradiologicalclueofbulbaronsetamyotrophiclateralsclerosisacasereport AT mesfinmulugeta brighttonguesignasaradiologicalclueofbulbaronsetamyotrophiclateralsclerosisacasereport AT leuladane brighttonguesignasaradiologicalclueofbulbaronsetamyotrophiclateralsclerosisacasereport |