title: Basal metabolic rate in patients with hydrocephalus. On the cause of lowered basal metabolic rate in myotonic dystrophy.
abstract: Myotonic dystrophy seems to have a hypometabolism of non-thyroid origin. The hypometabolism could hypothetically be caused by : 1) reduction in muscle mass, 2) hydrocephalus ex vacuo, an integral part of the disorder, or 3) the basic disease process itself. Possibility 2) was explored by determining basal metabolic rate (BMR) in 41 patients with dilatation. A BMR of less than -10 per cent was found in eight cases. The ventricles were categorized in three groups according to width. No decrease in mean BMR was found in cases with a marked ventricular enlargement. Thus, ventricular dilatation per se does not seem to lead to hypometabolism.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001481:Basal Metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009223:Myotonic Dystrophy / Q000378:metabolism*