Abstract
Polycythaemia vera is a well-known cause of symptomatic chorea, however, the pathophysiology of this correlation remains unclear. We report on a patient with generalized chorea-ballism associated with polycythaemia vera, and we present the findings of 99mTc-hexamethylpropylene amine oxime (HMPAO) SPECT done in both the choreic state and the non-choreic state. The SPECT during both the choreic and the non-choreic states did not reveal any definite perfusion changes in specific regions of the brain, as compared with 6 age-matched controls. In addition, the subtraction SPECT co-registered to MRI (SISCOM) analysis did not show any difference in cerebral blood flow during the choreic and non-choreic states. This result suggests that the basic mechanism of chorea associated with polycythaemia vera does not appear to be associated with a reduction in cerebral perfusion to a specific cerebral area, such as the basal ganglia or its thalamocortical connections.
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Kim, W., Kim, JS., Lee, KS. et al. No evidence of perfusion abnormalities in the basal ganglia of a patient with generalized chorea-ballism and polycythaemia vera: analysis using subtraction SPECT co-registered to MRI. Neurol Sci 29, 351–354 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-008-0994-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-008-0994-2