Longitudinal changes of cerebral glucose metabolism in semantic dementia.
BACKGROUND
Semantic dementia (SD).


OBJECTIVE
To identify the pattern of decline of cerebral glucose metabolism in SD using cerebral (18)F-fluoro-2-desoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography scanning ((18)F-FDG-PET).


METHODS
Eight patients with SD underwent (18)F-FDG-PET at baseline and at re-examination in average 15 months later.


RESULTS
Compared with healthy control subjects, patients with SD showed a significant asymmetrical (left > right) hypometabolism of the temporal lobes, particularly of the anterior poles, at baseline. At follow-up, we observed a deterioration of cognitive abilities. However, in addition to the temporal lobes no other cortical or subcortical region showed a significant reduction of glucose metabolism except the anterior cingulate cortex (pcorr < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Subtle functional changes suffice to produce significant neuropsycho- logical deterioration.
Diehl-Schmid
J
J
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany. janine.diehl@lrz.tum.de
Grimmer
T
T
Drzezga
A
A
Bornschein
S
S
Perneczky
R
R
Forstl
H
H
Schwaiger
M
M
Kurz
A
A
D017668:Age of Onset; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012660:Semantics
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005947:Glucose