Your browser version may not work well with NCBI's Web applications. More information here...
1: Ann Neurol. 2002 Aug;52(2):220-3.Click here to read Links

Progressive loss of cardiac sympathetic innervation in Parkinson's disease.

Li ST, Dendi R, Holmes C, Goldstein DS.

Clinical Neurocardiology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1620, USA. lishen@ninds.nih.gov

This study addressed whether cardiac sympathetic denervation progresses over time in Parkinson's disease. In 9 patients without orthostatic hypotension, 6-[(18)F]fluorodopamine positron emission tomography scanning was repeated after a mean of 2 years from the first scan. 6-[(18)F]fluorodopamine-derived radioactivity was less in the second scan than in the first scan, by 31% in the left ventricular free wall and 16% in the septum. In Parkinson's disease, loss of cardiac sympathetic denervation progresses in a pattern of loss suggesting a dying-back mechanism.

PMID: 12210793 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]