CT of Huntington's Disease

[JgHaverty]

Wow thats sad :(

Arent the black areas parts of the brain that are destroyed?

[floppaboppa]

@JgHaverty Not exactly. Black areas are the cerebrospinal fluid which surrounds the brain and spinal cord. In this image, the fissures (which are the grooves on the outside of the brain) and ventricles (the larger black areas inside the brain) are widened, suggesting that there is less brain matter in general than normal. I believe the spot which is pointed out in the video is the striatum, which is responsible for the chorea seen in HD.

[JgHaverty]

@floppaboppa What do white spots mean? I had an mri done the other day, waiting on the radiologist and neurologist to consult me, but Im curious. I have a large white spot in the center. shows up under contrast only.

[floppaboppa]

@JgHaverty The white spots on this scan are the pineal gland and choroid plexus, which have been calcified over time. This is a normal finding and shouldn't be affected by the presence of contrast fluid.

Your radiologist can give a much better answer than I can, but areas that light up only in presence of contrast tend to mean that the area takes up more blood from the vessels. I feel I would be ill-advised to elaborate on the topic - further explanations are best made by your doctor(s).

[alz123alz]

Does one get brain lesions in Huntington Disease, like in late stage Alzheimers Disease. Thanks

[alz123alz]

Does on get lesions with HA, as in Alzheimers Disease. Thanks

[alz123alz]

Can someone translate ziversout comment. Thanks

[R4Zy3L]

So basically with huntington's disease the brain starts to shrink right?

[ConstantC4]

most of the damage is done in the basal ganglia. as you can see there is an elargment of the third ventricle here due to shrinking of the striatum.

[trisky1234]

@R4Zy3L I believe certain dopaminergic neurons start to die off in the basal ganglia, substantia nigra and striatum, which are areas linked to movement and memory among other things..

[rEMINEMTGR]

@trisky1234 Hey I think you're getting HD confused with Parkinson's which has DA cell death, HD is GABAergic cell death

[Haseeb2]

@R4Zy3L More specifically, there is over inhibition in the projections from the globus pallidus to the subthalamic nuclei which results in less inhibition of movement.

[rEMINEMTGR]

@Haseeb2 I think there's less inhibition of those projections, the striatal pallidal GABAergic neurons are the neurons that die. Google image search picrender.fcgi huntingtons parkinsons, it explains it better than I can

[ZuiverZout]

Het striatum, dat bij de ziekte van Huntington wordt aangetast, is een knooppunt van subcorticale en corticale frontoparietale regelsystemen. Aantasting van het striatum heeft daarom niet alleen gevolgen voor de regulatie van houding en beweging, maar ook voor cognitieve en emotionele functies.