Neuropsychology and PET Findings of Corticobasal Degeneration

J Korean Neurol Assoc > Volume 23(3); 2005 > Article

Journal of the Korean Neurological Association 2005;23(3): 341-347.

피질기저핵변성 환자의 신경심리검사 및 양전자단층촬영 소견

김정은, 한문구a 임준성a 백민재a 김상윤a

대전을지대학병원 신경과, 서울대학교 의과대학 신경과학교실a

Neuropsychology and PET Findings of Corticobasal Degeneration

Jung Eun Kim

Department of Neurology, Eulji University Hospital, Daejeon; Department of Neurology, Seoul National University College of Medicinea, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Background: Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder involving the cortical and subcortical areas enabling it to cause abnormalities of both cognition and movement. In some reports, CBD has been known to develop variable degrees of intellectual, memory and language impairment. However, detailed neuropsychological assessments of CBD up to now have been few. We conducted a detailed neuropsychological investigation and FDG-PET to delineate the pattern of neuropsychological dysfunction of CBD and to correlate neuropsychological dysfunction with FDG-PET findings.
Methods: All 6 patients (5; right handedness, 1; left handedness) were diagnosed with CBD using clinical criteria. All the patients underwent detailed neuropsychological and brain FDG-PET tests.
Results: Neuropsychological tests showed multiple cognitive dysfunctions with moderate memory impairment. FDG-PET scans showed asymmetric decreased metabolism in bilateral fronoto-temporo-parietal cortical and subcortical areas. The extent of asymmetricity was greater on the subcortical than cortical areas. Unlike previous reports, the medial temporal and fronto-parietal metabolisms were similarly depressed.
Conclusions: All CBD patients displayed prominent deficits on mostly cognitive domains. FDG-PET may explain the relation between cognitive dysfunctions and cortical hypometabolism and help differentiate CBD with other dementing disorders.KeyWords:CBD, Neuropsychology, FDG-PET, Cognitive dysfunctions