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Progressive loss of cardiac sympathetic innervation in Parkinson's disease
Sheng-Ting Li1, Raghuveer Dendi, Courtney Holmes
1Clinical Neurocardiology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1620, USA. lishen@ninds.nih.gov
Abstract:
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.
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