Quantitative assessment of brain iron by R2* relaxometry in patients with cervical dystonia. Issue 10 (30th July 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Aschermann, Zsuzsanna; Perlaki, Gabor; Orsi, Gergely; Nagy, Szilvia Anett; Horvath, Andrea; Bone, Beata; Bihari, Katalin; Acs, Peter; Janszky, Jozsef; Komoly, Samuel; Bogner, Peter
• Is Part Of: Movement disorders. Volume 30:Issue 10(2015)
• Page Start: 1422
• Page End: 1426
• Publication Date: 2015-07-30
• Subjects: Movement disorders -- Periodicals; 610
• DOI: 10.1002/mds.26306
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0885-3185

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="mds26306-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Background</title> <p>The pathophysiology of cervical dystonia is poorly understood. Increased brain iron deposition has been described in different movement disorders. Our aim was to investigate brain iron content in patients with cervical dystonia, using R2* relaxation rate, a validated MRI marker of brain iron level.</p> </sec> <sec id="mds26306-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>Twelve female patients with primary focal cervical dystonia (mean age: 45.4 ± 8.0 years) and 12 age‐matched healthy female subjects (mean age: 45.0 ± 8.0 years) underwent 3T MRI to obtain regional R2* relaxation rates of the thalamus, caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus (GP). Regions of interest were delineated automatically on T1‐weighted MRIs.</p> </sec> <sec id="mds26306-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>R2* values in the putamen were positively correlated with age. Patients with cervical dystonia showed elevated R2* values in the GP.</p> </sec> <sec id="mds26306-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>This pilot study provides the first quantitative support for increased brain iron deposition in cervical dystonia. Further studies are needed to explore the implications of this finding.</p> </sec> </abstract>