technetium-tc-99m-exametazime and Myasthenia-Gravis

Fourteen patients suffering from myasthenia gravis underwent cranial MRI and 99mTc-HM-PAO SPECT examinations. T2-WI revealed solitary white matter and/or basal ganglia lesions in four, multiple lesions in eight patients. The evaluation of the rCBF demonstrated a circumscript decrease of cortical perfusion in one patient whereas eight patients showed multiple cortical areas of hypoperfusion. In the context of an increased incidence of intrathecal immune reaction as well as of a constantly impaired cognitive performance of these patients, imaging findings might be a correlate of a primary cerebral manifestation of myasthenia.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Autoantibodies; Brain; Electromyography; Female; Humans; Immunoglobulins; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Myasthenia Gravis; Neuropsychological Tests; Oligoclonal Bands; Organotechnetium Compounds; Oximes; Receptors, Cholinergic; Regional Blood Flow; Technetium Tc 99m Exametazime; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon