Spielmeyer-Vogt (Batten, Spielmeyer-Sjögren) disease. Distinctive patterns of cerebral glucose utilization

We have studied seven patients with Spielmeyer-Vogt disease (SV), aged 11-29 years, using PET and 2-deoxy-2[18F]fluoro-D-glucose. Five patients showed a distinctive age-related progression with decreased metabolic activity starting in the calcarine area and spreading rostrally to the entire cortex, leaving normal uptake only in the basal ganglia and brainstem of the oldest patients. Calcarine hypometabolism was mild in the youngest patient. All patients, including the youngest when the study was repeated 2 years later, had significantly decreased calcarine metabolic activity (P = 0.002). Two patients had PET patterns markedly different from the five others, with significantly decreased metabolic activity in most brain areas. Both patients may represent a new SV variant. An adult pathological control with congenital amaurosis showed normal cerebral metabolic activity in all areas. Two patients had older sisters, one now deceased, the other not available for study, who presented a rapid regression associated with epilepsy. Phenytoin and carbamazepine probably caused increased seizure activity and faster regression. The younger siblings treated with phenobarbital monotherapy had few seizures and maintained motor functions 5-8 years longer compared with their respective sisters. While the clinical course made obvious that some areas, such as the macula, are damaged before others, the progression from the calcarine area to the more anterior regions (but sparing the basal ganglia) provides unexpected insights into selective vulnerability of neurons that will allow a more precise way of monitoring individual patients.