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Abstract #1910

Diffusion tensor imaging in bulbar and limb-onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Arturo Cardenas-Blanco 1 , Judith Machts 2 , Julio Acosta-Cabronero 1 , Joern Kaufmann 2 , Susanne Abdulla 3 , Katja Kollewe 3 , Susanne Petri 3 , Reinhard Dengler 3 , Stefan Vielhaber 2 , and Peter Nestor 1

1 Brain Plasticity & Neurodegeneration, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, 2 Neurology, Magdeburg medical school, Magdeburg, Germany, 3 Neurology, Hannover medical school, Hannover, Germany

Bulbar onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS-B) has a worse prognosis that limb onset (ALS-L). This could reflect either that ALS-B targets muscles more critical for survival or because it is biologically more aggressive. The purpose of this study was to compare patterns of neuro-degeneration between ALS-B and ALS-L patients carefully matching age, sex, cognitive impairment and motor dysfunction using DTI. The results indicated that both groups had similar distribution of change (corticospinal tracts) although ALS-B had more severe white matter tract degeneration than ALS-L. This suggests that, when matched for clinical markers of severity, ALS-B is a more aggressive variant.

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