Complex relationships between cerebral blood flow and brain atrophy in early Huntington's disease.

ABSTRACT: Alterations in cerebral blood flow (CBF) may play an important role in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington's disease (HD). While a few reports have suggested reductions in CBF in HD, little is known about their extent and whether, or how, they might be related to atrophy and to clinical symptoms. We used pulsed arterial-spin labeling MRI in conjunction with high-resolution anatomical MRI to non-invasively measure regional CBF in 17 early stage HD subjects and 41 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. We found profound yet heterogeneous CBF reductions in the cortex, extending to the sensorimotor, paracentral, inferior temporal and lateral occipital regions, with sparing of the neighboring postcentral gyrus, insula and medial occipital areas. As expected,

SUBMITTER: Chen JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3787075 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature