Reversible diffusion-weighted lesion in a TIA patient without arterial recanalization: a case report.

A 70-year-old man with right hemiparesis (NIHSS score 15) was admitted to our hospital 1 h after onset. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) revealed a hyperintense lesion in the left corona radiata and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) revealed occlusion of the left middle cerebral artery (MCA). At 2.5 h after onset, his neurological deficits dramatically improved (with NIHSS score change from 15 to 2). Immediately thereafter, follow-up MRI revealed that the hyperintense lesion on DWI had disappeared, though the left MCA occlusion remained. By the end of follow-up MRI examination, his neurological deficits had completely disappeared. We report here the patient with transient ischemic attack with a reversible ischemic lesion on DWI without early arterial recanalization.