Abstract
Backgrounds: Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is a neuron degenerative disease with progressive asymmetrical rigidity, involuntary movements and localized cortical signs, particularly apraxia. CBD may be confused with progressive supranuclear palsy, Pick’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. The cerebral glucose metabolism and its regional asymmetries were estimated using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and positron emission tomography (PET) in CBD patients as compared with normal control subjects. Methods: Four CBD patients and 5 age-matched normal control subjects were studied. FDG PET images were obtained at 40 minutes after intravenous injection of 185 MBq (5 mCi) of 18F-FDG and a Siemens HR+ scanner. Semiquantitative analyses of cerebral glucose metabolism were performed by calculating standard uptake valuesover region of interest. Asymmetry indices (AI) were also calculated and compared. Significance was regarded as AI＞ 10%. Results: In 3 out of 4 patients, significant regional glucose metabolism asymmetries were observed in frontal, parietal, temporal, and cerebellum. In 2 patients, significant regional asymmetries were observed in putamen and thalamus. Only in 1 patient there were significant regional asymmetries in occipital lobe and caudate. Conclusions: Significantly regional asymmetries of glucose metabolism were observed in either cortical or basalganglia in all CBD patients. PET findings supported the clinical diagnosis of CBD, although the specific pattern related to this condition needs to be more precisely defined. Further studies are needed to correlate clinical data and PET results with pathological examination.
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