title: Pathology of the sympathetic nervous system corresponding to the decreased cardiac uptake in 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy in a patient with Parkinson disease.
abstract: Decreased cardiac uptake in (123)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy has been adopted as one of the most reliable diagnostic tests for Parkinson disease (PD) in Japan. To investigate the morphological basis for this finding, we performed a detailed neuropathological study of the cardiac sympathetic nervous system of a 71-year-old autopsy-proven PD patient, who presented with a marked decrease in cardiac uptake of MIBG, just 1 year prior to death. We carefully examined the intermediolateral column at several levels of the thoracic spinal cord, the sympathetic trunk and ganglia, and the nerve plexus of the anterior wall of the left ventricle and compared the findings with those of five age-matched controls. We found that the cardiac plexus was more heavily involved than the sympathetic ganglia in this patient with PD. Our study may provide further evidence that the markedly decreased cardiac uptake of MIBG observed in PD cases represents preferential involvement of the cardiac sympathetic nerve plexus in this disorder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Division of Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mitsui
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Toshimitsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Momose
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Noritoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Junji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shibahara
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ugawa
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kanazawa
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsuji
authors.forename: Shigeo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Murayama
mesh_terms: D019797:3-Iodobenzylguanidine; D000368:Aged; D001342:Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D005728:Ganglia, Sympathetic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000294:innervation; D006801:Humans; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D016631:Lewy Bodies / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000378:metabolism; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D017779:Sympathetic Fibers, Postganglionic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014855:Wallerian Degeneration / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D051844:alpha-Synuclein / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D051844:alpha-Synuclein; D019797:3-Iodobenzylguanidine; D009638:Norepinephrine