Evaluation of regional cerebral blood flow in cerebellar variant of multiple system atrophy using FineSRT
Received 10 March 2009; received in revised form 12 July 2009; accepted 13 August 2009.
Abstract
Objectives
In the present study, we compared the patterns of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) between cerebellar variant of multiple system atrophy (MSA-C) and the late-onset cortical cerebellar ataxia (LCCA) using FineSRT.
Patients and methods
We performed 99mTc ethylcysteinate dimer (ECD) single-photon emission computed tomography in 11 patients with MSA-C (mean age 65.7 years), 7 patients with LCCA (mean age 62.0 years), and 12 age-matched healthy controls (mean age 64.1 years). The rCBF in the region of interest (ROI) was measured by the noninvasive Patlak plot method and calculated using FineSRT, which is a fully automated the ROI technique.
Results
All patients with MSA-C had various degrees of atrophy in the brainstem and middle cerebellar peduncles and 4 of 11 patients showed a clear ‘hot cross bun’ sign in pontine base on T2-weighted MR images. All patients with LCCA showed the various degrees of atrophy in cerebellum without brainstem. FineSRT revealed the significantly decreased rCBF in the caudate tail, fusiform, lingual, cerebellum, midbrain, and pons in MSA-C group compared with controls. Moreover, MSA-C group showed significantly decreased rCBF in the pons compared with LCCA group.
Conclusion
We suggest that a widespread brain involvement is present in patients with MSA-C and the decreased rCBF in the pons may support the differential diagnosis between MSA-C and LCCA.
ABSTRACT