ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#To detect metabolic changes of bilateral frontal lobe in patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA) and cognitive dysfunction by 1H-proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). @*METHODS@#N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/creatine(Cr), choline (Cho)/Cr, myoinositol (mI)/Cr in three sides of frontal lobe were detected by 1H-MRS in 48 healthy controls, 23 patients with MSA and cognitive dysfunction and 19 patients with MSA but without cognitive dysfunction. @*RESULTS@#NAA/Cr of bilateral frontal lobes in patients with MSA and cognitive dysfunction was significantly decreased compared with MSA patients without cognitive dysfunction and healthy controls (P<0.05). mI/Cr of right frontal lobes was significantly increased in patients with MSA and cognitive dysfunction compared with healthy controls (P<0.05). There was a negative correlation between NAA/Cr of bilateral frontal lobes and duration while a positive correlation between NAA/Cr of bilateral frontal lobes and MoCA score in patients with MSA and cognitive dysfunction. @*CONCLUSION@#There is a decrease in NAA/Cr and an increase in mI/Cr in frontal lobes in patients with MSA and cognitive dysfunction, which may be associated with cognitive dysfunction in MSA patients.