Abstract
This chapter discusses the olivopontocerebellar atrophy (OPCA) using positron emission tomography (PET). OPCA is a neurological disorder usually beginning in the third to fifth decade of life and characterized by progressive degenerative changes in the inferior olive, pons, and cerebellum. The adult onset of a cerebellar disorder can result from many conditions, including degenerative disease, malformations, vascular disease, infections, toxic or metabolic disorders, neoplasms, and demyelinative disease. The diagnosis of OPCA or one of the other adult-onset degenerative diseases is usually suggested by the presence of atrophy of the cerebellum and brain stem on computerized axial tomography scan. In comparison with the scans of the normal controls, the scans of patients with OPCA revealed obviously decreased glucose metabolic activity in the cerebellar hemispheres, vermis, and brain stem and a normal pattern of activity in other portions of the nervous system. The PET studies of patients revealed decreased glucose metabolic activity in the cerebellar hemispheres, vermis, and brain stem in comparison with age matched and sex-matched control subjects.
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