Abstract #1267

Reduced Caudate Nuclei Volumes in Patients with Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome

Rajesh Kumar¹, Rebecca Ahdout¹, Paul M. Macey², Mary A. Woo², Ronald M. Harper¹

¹Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; ²School of Nursing, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS) patients show cognitive and affective deficits. The caudate nuclei play a role in both functions, and show structural injury in CCHS based on gross voxel-based analyses. However, the magnitude of caudate injury in CCHS is unclear. We assessed caudate nuclei volumes in CCHS and control subjects using high-resolution T1-weighted imaging and region-of-interest procedures. Both left and right caudate nuclei volumes were significantly reduced in CCHS compared to controls. Damaged caudate nuclei may contribute to neuropsychological deficits in CCHS; the injury may result from hypoxic processes, together with thiamine deficiency suspected in the syndrome.