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The authors retrospectively examined the MRI of children diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 1 using the National Institutes of Health Consensus Criteria (1987), with imaging follow-up of at least 4 years. They recorded the number, size, and surface area of focal areas of high signal intensity according to their anatomic distribution on T2WI/T2-FLAIR sequences. A generalized mixed model was used to analyze the evolution of focal areas of high signal intensity according to age, and separate analyses were performed for girls and boys. Thirty-nine patients with a median follow-up of 7 years were analyzed. Focal areas of high signal intensity were found in 100% of patients, preferentially in the infratentorial white matter (35% cerebellum, 30% brain stem) and in the capsular lenticular region (22%). They measured 15mm in 95% of cases. The areas appeared from the age of 1 year; increased in number, size, and surface area to a peak at the age of 7; and then spontaneously regressed by 17 years of age. The authors conclude that the study suggests that the evolution of focal areas of high signal intensity is not related to puberty and has a peak at the age of 7 years.