Pontine hyperperfusion in sporadic hyperekplexia.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To explore with neuroimaging techniques the anatomical and functional correlates of sporadic hyperekplexia.

Methods

Two elderly women with sporadic hyperekplexia underwent neurophysiological assessment, MRI of the brain and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) of the brainstem and frontal lobes. Regional cerebral blood flow was investigated with single photon emission tomography (SPECT) during evoked startles and at rest.

Results

Both patients showed excessively large and non-habituating startle responses. In both patients, MRI showed impingement of the brainstem by the vertebrobasilar artery, lack of frontal or brainstem abnormalities on 1H-MRS and hyperperfusion in the dorsal pons and cingulate cortex, and superior frontal gyrus at SPECT during

SUBMITTER: Vetrugno R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2117864 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature