title: Correlation between triplet repeat expansion and computed tomography measures of caudate nuclei atrophy in Huntington's disease.
abstract: Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant, progressive disorder characterized by choreic movements, cognitive decline, and psychiatric manifestations. Eleven patients with HD were retrospectively selected from a larger group of 42 patients based on the similar, early onset of the disease (between 21 and 30 years) and the same duration of HD at the moment of computed tomography (CT) examination (5 years). A significant correlation between the number of CAG trinucleotides and the bicaudate index or the frontal horn index, two indices of caudate atrophy, was found in this group of patients. Our results, although in a small number of patients, suggest that the striatal degeneration, assessed by CT measures, is primarily regulated by the size of expanded CAG repeats.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Culjkovic
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Stojkovic
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vojvodic
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Svetel
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rakic
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Romac
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kostic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D001284:Atrophy; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D018911:Trinucleotide Repeats