Autonomic Disorders and Myocardial 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine Scintigraphy in Huntington's Disease

Overview

Journal J Nucl Cardiol

Specialty Cardiology & Vascular Diseases

Date 2020 Aug 18

PMID 32803674

Citations 3

Authors

Roberta Assante

Elena Salvatore

Carmela Nappi

Silvio Peluso

Giovanni De Simini

Luigi Di Maio

Gianluigi Rosario Palmieri

Isabella Pia Ferrara

Alessandro Roca

Giuseppe De Michele

Alberto Cuocolo

Sabina Pappata

Anna De Rosa

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Huntington's disease (HD) patients often present with abnormal modulation of blood pressure and heart rate. We investigated whether cardiac autonomic innervation assessed by 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) imaging is impaired in HD patients, in comparison with controls (Ctrl).

Methods: Fifteen patients (6 F and 9 M) were assessed by the motor section of the Unified HD Rating Scale, the Total Function Capacity, and the scale for outcomes in Parkinson's disease-autonomic (SCOPA-AUT) questionnaire. All patients and 10 Ctrl (5 F and 5 M) underwent 123I-MIBG imaging. From planar images, the early and late heart-to-mediastinum (H/M) ratios and myocardial washout rates (WR) were calculated.

Results: We did not find significant differences in early and late H/M ratios and WR between the two groups. At individual level, three patients showed reduced early and/or late H/M ratios. The most common autonomic complaints were gastrointestinal and genitourinary disorders. SCOPA-AUT questionnaire score results positively correlated with the disease duration and WR.

Conclusions: Our study indicates that myocardial postganglionic sympathetic innervation is essentially preserved or only minimally involved in HD. These findings suggest that the cardiovascular dysfunction might be mainly due to the impairment of brain areas associated with the regulation and modulation of the heart function.

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