Heterogeneity of glucose metabolism in corticobasal degeneration

A positron emission tomography (PET) study on the regional cerebral glucose metabolism (rCMRglc) was performed in six patients with corticobasal degen eration (CBD). The clinical features included asymmetrical parkinsonism wit h apraxia, were related to the cerebral cortical and basal ganglionic dysfu nction. An MRI study showed all cases to have asymmetrical atrophy in the f ront-parietal cortex contralateral to the dominantly affected limb; however , no case was pathologically verified. A PET study revealed three cases to have asymmetrical glucose hypometabolism in the parietal lobe and thalamus, which was compatible with the results of previous reports. However, two pa tients demonstrated symmetrical glucose hypometabolism in the frontal lobe, striatum and parietal lobe while one case had a diffuse hypometabolism, in spite of a marked asymmetry of the neurological findings. These results th erefore suggest the heterogeneity of the glucose hypometabolism in CBD base d on the PET findings. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.