Sandro Romanzetti1, Kathrin Reetz1, 2, Imis Dogan2, 3, Christian Sa4, Cornelius Werner2, Johannes Schiefer2, Daniel Fiege1, Jrg B. Schulz2, 3, N.Jon Shah1, 5
1Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine - 4, Forschungszentrum Jlich, Jlich, Germany; 2Department of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; 3Translational Brain Medicine, JARA, Aachen, Germany; 4Department of Neurology, University Hospital Mnster, Mnster, Germany; 5JARA - Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
The proven sensitivity of sodium MRI to cell viability and death has been applied for the first time in this study for the characterization of pre-symptomatic as well as symptomatic patients affected by Huntingtons Disease (HD). Tissue Sodium Concentration maps of a group of patient were compared to those from an age-matched control group. A significant enhancement in sodium concentration was detected in the bilateral striatum, a key region, in HD. It has been shown that this imaging modality may provide a deeper insight into the pathophysiological mechanisms of tissue injury in HD.