This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on ISI (5)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Radiologic Imaging  • Dementias  • Movement Disorders  • Parkinson Disease/ Parkinsonian Disorders  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging  • PET/ SPECT Imaging  • Alert me on articles by topic

Yasumasa Kokubo, MD; Shigeki Kuzuhara, MD

Arch Neurol. 2003;60:1257-1261.

Background  The Kii peninsula of Japan, together with Guam and West New Guinea, has one of the highest incidences of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and parkinsonism–dementia complex (PDC) in the world.

Objective  To perform neuroimaging studies on patients with ALS and PDC on the Kii peninsula.

Methods  Results of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and single-photon emission computed tomography were studied in 4 patients with ALS and in 10 patients with PDC from the Hohara village on the Kii peninsula of Japan.

Results  In patients with PDC, there was mild to severe atrophy of the frontal and temporal lobes on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging and a marked decrease in cerebral blood flow on single-photon emission computed tomography. In contrast, in patients with ALS, there was a decrease in cerebral blood flow of the frontal and temporal lobes, although the patients did not show signs of clinical dementia or obvious brain atrophy on computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging.

Conclusion  The finding of an obvious decrease in cerebral blood flow of the frontal and temporal lobes in patients with PDC and ALS with or without cerebral atrophy supports the concept that the 2 conditions are different manifestations of a single frontotemporal tauopathy.

From the Department of Neurology, Mie University School of Medicine, Tsu, Mie-ken, Japan.