CEREBRAL OXYGEN-METABOLISM IN PATIENTS WITH PROGRESSIVE SUPRANUCLEAR PALSY - A POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY STUDY

To investigate cerebral oxygen metabolism in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), 5 patients with a clinical diagnosis of PSP and a variabl e degree of cognitive deficit were selected for positron emission tomo graphy (PET) of the brain. In 4 of them, a significant decrease in oxy gen metabolism was found in all cortical regions, without frontal acce ntuation. In the group as a whole, this decrease was even slightly mor e marked in parietal and temporal regions. These findings are not cons istent with earlier PET studies that demonstrated frontal targeting of hypometabolism in PSP patients. Part of this discrepancy can be expla ined by differences in methodology, although the use of different clin ical criteria and overlap of PSP with other neurodegenerative diseases must be taken into account. It is concluded that the absence of front al hypometabolism on PET examination does not exclude the diagnosis of PSP.