Increased iron in the dentate nucleus of patients with Friedrich's ataxia
D Waldvogel1, P van Gelderen, M Hallett
1Human Motor Control Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1428, USA.
Annals of Neurology
|July 13, 1999
Abstract:
Friedreich's ataxia (FA) is the most frequently inherited ataxia. To test the hypothesis that iron is increased in the cerebellum of patients with FA, we developed a multigradient echo magnetic resonance sequence for the three-dimensional imaging of brain iron-induced contrast. Relaxation rate (R2*) values in the unaffected globus pallidus were equal in FA patients and controls, although R2* values in the dentate nucleus of patients were significantly higher, which is most likely due to increased iron.
