Wouter Teeuwisse1, Eve M. Dumas2, Simon J. van den Bogaard2, Hermien E. Kan1, Raymund A. Roos2, Mark A. van Buchem1, Jeroen van der Grond1
1Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands; 2Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
Huntingtons Disease (HD) is a hereditary genetic disease which presents clinically with motor, cognitive and behavioural symptoms. Single voxel MRS (STEAM, TR/TE/TM = 2000/19/25 ms) was performed in frontal lobe, hypothalamus, thalamus, caudate nucleus (CN) and putamen in 8 gene carriers and 11 healthy controls on a Philips 7 Tesla Achiva system. In CN, patients with Huntingtons disease showed decreased NAA concentration and NAA/Cre ratio. Also, Choline levels in thalamus and mI/Cre ratio in the hypothalamus were elevated in patients. No significant differences between patients and controls were found for metabolite concentrations or metabolite/Cre ratios in putamen and frontal lobe.