Kallmann syndrome: MR findings

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate patients with known hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, some with known anosmia, for defective rhinocephalon development that resulted in olfactory tract abnormalities, an affliction known as Kallmann syndrome.

Methods: Six patients who clinically had hypogonadotropic hypogonadism were examined by MR. Thin coronal images of the interior frontal region were used to determine presence or absence of olfactory tract and to evaluate the olfactory sulci.

Results: Olfactory tracts were not seen in three of the six cases; two of which had hypoplastic olfactory sulci.

Conclusions: T1-weighted MR examination of the inferior frontal region in the coronal plane can help determine whether a patient with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, with or without clinically evident anosmia, is afflicted with Kallmann syndrome.