Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Brief Clinical Note

Degeneration of ponto-cerebellar tract visualized by diffusion tensor imaging in multiple system atrophy

Juichi Fujimori, M.D.1)3), Yasuko Tatewaki, M.D.2)4), Hiroshi Shimizu, M.D.1), Itaru Kimura, M.D.1) and Kinya Hisanaga, M.D.1)

1)Department of Neurology, Miyagi National Hospital
2)Department of Radiology, Miyagi National Hospital
3)Department of Neurology, Tohoku Employees' Pension Welfare Hospital
4)Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Tohoku University, School of Medicine

We visualized ponto-cerebellar tracts projecting through the middle cerebellar peduncle of 3 patients with early stage multiple system atrophy (MSA), 3 patients with advanced stage MSA, and a healthy control using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) on 1.5T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We also examined whether the location of the degenerated ponto-cerebellar tracts coincided with that of the transverse part of the so-called "hot cross bun sign (HCB)" on MRI. DTI successfully demonstrated the degeneration of ponto-cerebellar tracts in MSA patients. The tracts in advanced stage MSA patients appeared more sparse than those in patients of the early stage. High apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values and low fractional anisotropy (FA) values also indicated the degeneration of the ponto-cerebellar tracts in MSA patients. The tracts in the ventral pons were more sparse than those in the central pons. The location of the degenerated ponto-cerebellar tracts of the central pons appeared to coincide with that of the transverse part of HCB. Visualization of degenerated ponto-cerebellar tracts that cross the ventral pons using DTI might be useful for the early diagnosis.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (566K)

(CLINICA NEUROL, 51: 271|274, 2011)
key words: diffusion tensor imaging, multiple system atrophy, ponto-cerebellar tract, middle cerebellar peduncle, hot cross bun sign

(Received: 19-Aug-10)