Brain metabolic differences between pure bulbar and pure spinal ALS: a 2-[¹⁸F]FDG-PET study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

MRI studies reported that ALS patients with bulbar and spinal onset showed focal cortical changes in corresponding regions of the motor homunculus. We evaluated the capability of brain 2-[¹⁸F]FDG-PET to disclose the metabolic features characterizing patients with pure bulbar or spinal motor impairment.

Methods

We classified as pure bulbar (PB) patients with bulbar onset and a normal score in the spinal items of the ALSFRS-R, and as pure spinal (PS) patients with spinal onset and a normal score in the bulbar items at the time of PET. Forty healthy controls (HC) were enrolled. We compared PB and PS, and each patient group with HC. Metabolic clusters showing a statistically significant difference between PB and PS were tested to evaluate their accuracy in

SUBMITTER: Canosa A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9886651 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature