Articles

Hypermetabolism of Olivary Nuclei in a Patient with Progressive Ataxia and Palatal Tremor

Korpela, Jaana; Joutsa, Juho; Rinne, Juha O.; Bergman, Jörgen; Kaasinen, Valtteri

Background: The pathophysiology of the movement disorder progressive ataxia with palatal tremor (PAPT) is unclear.

Case report: A 77-year-old male presented with dysarthria, ataxia, and 1–2 Hz palatal tremor. A diagnosis of probable sporadic PAPT was established. Brain magnetic resonance imaging was normal at the presymptomatic phase but later showed olivary hypertrophy. Brain [18F]-fludeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) showed bilateral hypermetabolism in the olivary nuclei.

Discussion: This second reported patient with PAPT and FDG-PET shows that olivary hypertrophy is paralleled with hypermetabolism. The olivary nuclei pathology also appears to be temporally associated with symptom onset.

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Title
Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7916/D8PV6JMT

More About This Work

Academic Units
Center for Parkinson's Disease and Other Movement Disorders
Published Here
October 15, 2015