Wilson's disease studied with FDG and positron emission tomography.

Four patients with Wilson's disease and eight normal controls were studied with 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) and positron emission tomography (PET). The patients had diffusely reduced glucose metabolism in all brain regions evaluated compared with controls, with the exception of the thalamus. The ratio of the cerebral metabolic rate for glucose in the lenticular nuclei to hemispheres declined from 1.23 (+/- 0.14 SD) in controls to 1.03 (+/- 0.06) (p less than 0.025) in Wilson's disease patients. Compared with Huntington's disease, the PET FDG results in Wilson's disease indicate relatively less focal involvement of the caudate nucleus, more severe focal changes in the lenticular nuclei, and more significant global changes in glucose metabolism.