Abstract #2216

Changes in Iron Concentration of the Basal Ganglia in Huntington's Disease using Magnetic Field Correlation

Maarten J. Versluis^1,2, Eve M. Dumas³, Simon J. A. van Den Bogaard³, Andrew G. Webb^1,2, Mark A. van Buchem¹, Ellen P. T. Hart³, Matthias J. P. van Osch^1,2, Jeroen van Der Grond¹, Raymund A. C. Roos³

¹Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands; ²C.J. Gorter Center for High Field MRI, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands; ³Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands

Increased iron in subcortical structures in patients with Huntingtons Disease (HD) has been linked to neurotoxicity and therefore suggested as a potential causal factor of the symptoms of HD. Using a novel MRI technique, Magnetic Field Correlation (MFC) changes in magnetic field inhomogeneities related to iron levels were measured. Increases in the magnetic field inhomogeneities were found in HD patients in the Caudate Nucleus and Putamen. These differences are likely to be caused by an increase in tissue iron concentration, and not by changes in water content or breakdown of myelin.