HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Correspondence: Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Correspondence are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Draganski, B. Articles by May, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Draganski, B. Articles by May, A. Related Collections All Imaging MRI All Movement Disorders Dystonia

"Motor circuit" gray matter changes in idiopathic cervical dystonia

From the Department of Neurology, University of Regensburg, Germany.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Arne May, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Department of Neurology, University of Regensburg, Universitaetsstr. 84, D-93053 Regensburg, Germany; e-mail: arne.may{at}klinik.uni-regensburg.de

Background: Idiopathic cervical dystonia (ICD), the most common adult-onset focal dystonia, is clinically characterized by involuntary uni- or bilateral contractions of head and neck musculature. One crucial criterion for the diagnosis of ICD is normal results on MRI of the brain.

Objective: To test the hypothesis whether subtle brain structure changes occur in ICD.

Methods: Using voxel-based morphometry, the authors compared the brain structure of 10 patients with ICD with that of 10 healthy sex- and age-matched controls using high-resolution MRI.

Results: Patients with ICD showed an increase in gray matter density bilaterally in the motor cortex and in the cerebellar flocculus and unilaterally in the right globus pallidus internus. In addition, a decrease in gray matter density was observed in the right caudal supplementary motor area as well as in the right dorsal lateral prefrontal and visual cortex.

Conclusions: These results demonstrate for the first time in vivo subtle morphologic alterations in ICD. These data challenge the principal concept that patients with ICD have no brain structure abnormalities and that this movement disorder is solely due to abnormal cerebral function.

Received April 11, 2003. Accepted in final form July 26, 2003.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J T H Teo, B P C van de Warrenburg, S A Schneider, J C Rothwell, and K P Bhatia Neurophysiological evidence for cerebellar dysfunction in primary focal dystonia J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, January 1, 2009; 80(1): 80 - 83. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. K. Neychev, X. Fan, V. I. Mitev, E. J. Hess, and H. A. Jinnah The basal ganglia and cerebellum interact in the expression of dystonic movement Brain, September 1, 2008; 131(9): 2499 - 2509. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. S. Perlmutter and W. T. Thach Writer's cramp: Questions of causation Neurology, July 24, 2007; 69(4): 331 - 332. [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Delmaire, M. Vidailhet, A. Elbaz, F. Bourdain, J. P. Bleton, S. Sangla, S. Meunier, A. Terrier, and S. Lehericy Structural abnormalities in the cerebellum and sensorimotor circuit in writer's cramp Neurology, July 24, 2007; 69(4): 376 - 380. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. T Lin, E. A Shamim, and M. Hallett Focal hand dystonia Practical Neurology, October 1, 2006; 6(5): 278 - 287. [Full Text] [PDF]

				T Etgen, M Muhlau, C Gaser, and D Sander Bilateral grey-matter increase in the putamen in primary blepharospasm J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, September 1, 2006; 77(9): 1017 - 1020. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C Colosimo, P Pantano, V Calistri, P Totaro, G Fabbrini, and A Berardelli Diffusion tensor imaging in primary cervical dystonia J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, November 1, 2005; 76(11): 1591 - 1593. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]