Vestibular symptoms in acute hemispheric strokes.

A prospective study focused on whether vestibular symptoms are seen in acute hemispheric strokes, and if so, the frequency and lateralization of causative lesions on MRI. Among 668 patients with hemispheric infarction, we prospectively included those with chief complaints of acute vestibular symptoms, such as vertigo/dizziness, nausea/vomiting and gait instability, in the "VS" group. We also retrospectively reviewed MRI of all stroke patients, and included cases with the findings of parieto-insular vestibular cortex (PIVC) or temporo-periSylvian vestibular cortex (TPSVC) lesion by diffusion-weighted MRI, in the "PIVC" group. Eight patients were found to belong to the VS group, and six other patients to the PIVC group. In the VS group, six patients had the responsible lesion on the right hemisphere, in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory except one case and two on the left MCA territory, particularly in the insula, retro-insular region, superior/middle temporal gyrus, angular gyrus, supra-marginal gyrus, putamen and hippocampus/para-hippocampal gyrus. In contrast, none of the six other patients of the PIVC group had vestibular symptoms. One of them had a lesion in the right hemisphere and five in the left hemisphere. Four lesions were located in the insular area and two within the temporal lobe. In conclusion, cerebral hemispheric infarction limited to the PIVC or TPSVC does not necessarily cause vertigo. However, unilateral hemispheric infarctions, restricted to the areas belonging to the vestibular cortical network may cause vestibular symptoms. The lesions responsible for vestibular symptoms are located more often in the right hemisphere.

Cardiac 123I-MIBG scintigraphy can assess the disease severity and phenotype of PD.

OBJECTIVE: Cardiac (123)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy studies of patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) found decreased uptake. Whether this decrease is associated with clinical severity as assessed by the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and the phenotypes of PD has not been determined. METHODS: Cardiac MIBG scintigraphy was performed on 34 patients with PD, 7 with multiple system atrophy (MSA), 4 with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and 11 normal controls (NCs). Early and delayed MIBG heart/mediastinum (H/M) ratios were evaluated. PD severity was assessed by the Hoehn and Yahr (H-Y) stage and UPDRS. Patients were grouped in two phenotypes, tremor and postural instability gait difficulty (PIGD)-dominant groups based on UPDRS components. Associations between MIBG uptake and age at onset, UPDRS, and disease phenotype were analyzed in each group. RESULTS: The early H/M ratio was significantly lower in patients with PD (1.45+/-0.207) than in the NCs (2.08+/-0.231), and in those with MSA (1.99+/-0.284), but not in those with DLB (1.29+/-0.0435). The delayed H/M ratio for PD (1.33+/-0.276) also was significantly decreased as compared to the ratios for NCs (2.17+/-0.286) and MSA (2.16+/-0.414) but not DLB (1.16+/-0.0949). The early H/M ratio was significantly correlated with both UPDRS score and age at onset, whereas the delayed H/M ratio only was significantly correlated with age at onset. The PIGD-dominant group had significantly higher UPDRS scores and lower H/M ratios than the tremor-dominant group. CONCLUSION: Cardiac MIBG scintigraphy can be used to differentiate PD from MSA and NC, and to determine the disease severity and phenotypes of PD.