TY - JOUR T1 - Mitochondrial Encephalomyopathy With Lactic Acidosis and Stroke-Like Episodes—MELAS Syndrome JF - Ochsner Journal JO - Ochsner J SP - 296 LP - 301 VL - 17 IS - 3 AU - Caitlin Henry AU - Neema Patel AU - William Shaffer AU - Lillian Murphy AU - Joe Park AU - Bradley Spieler Y1 - 2017/09/21 UR - http://www.ochsnerjournal.org/content/17/3/296.abstract N2 - Background: Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) syndrome is a rare inherited disorder that results in waxing and waning nervous system and muscle dysfunction. MELAS syndrome may overlap with other neurologic disorders but shows distinctive imaging features.Case Report: We present the case of a 28-year-old female with atypical stroke-like symptoms, a strong family history of stroke-like symptoms, and a relapsing-remitting course for several years. We discuss the imaging features distinctive to the case, the mechanism of the disease, typical presentation, imaging diagnosis, and disease management.Conclusion: This case is a classic example of the relapse-remitting MELAS syndrome progression with episodic clinical flares and fluctuating patterns of stroke-like lesions on imaging. MELAS is an important diagnostic consideration when neuroimaging reveals a pattern of disappearing and relapsing cortical brain lesions that may occur in different areas of the brain and are not necessarily limited to discrete vascular territories. Future studies should investigate disease mechanisms at the cellular level and the value of advanced magnetic resonance imaging techniques for a targeted approach to therapy. ER -