H-1 MAGNETIC-RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY OF THE LENTIFORM NUCLEUS IN PRIMARY FOCAL HAND DYSTONIA

Several radiologic findings point toward the lentiform nucleus as a po ssible site of lesion in primary dystonia. Histologic examinations, ho wever, have shown inconsistent results. H-1-magnetic resonance spectro scopy (MRS) has proved helpful to assess neuronal degeneration in a va riety of basal ganglia disorders. MRS data of dystonia patients are, h owever, lacking so far. H-1-MRS centered on the lentiform nuclei was p erformed in 14 patients with primary focal hand dystonia and in 12 hea lthy control subjects using a 1.5-T MR imager. No statistically signif icant differences of N-acetylaspartate/creatine and lactate/creatine r atios were found between patients and control subjects. Based on these data, the authors found no evidence that primary focal dystonia was a ssociated with a conspicuous loss of lentiform nucleus neurons or a ma rked disturbance of the aerobic metabolism, although minor abnormaliti es cannot be excluded because of the possibly limited sensitivity of t he method.