Remy P, de Recondo A, Defer G, Loc'h C, Amarenco P, Planté-Bordeneuve V, Dao-Castellana M H, Bendriem B, Crouzel C, Clanet M
Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot, Orsay, France.
Neurology. 1995 Mar;45(3 Pt 1):472-7. doi: 10.1212/wnl.45.3.472.
Lesions causing so-called rubral tremors frequently involve the substantia nigra or the nigrostriatal fibers, suggesting dopaminergic denervation as possibly contributory. We examined this hypothesis using PET and [18F]-fluorodopa in six patients with a contralateral tremor following a peduncular lesion. The denervation revealed by PET was even more marked than in severe parkinsonian patients. All patients showed partial to complete improvement with levodopa therapy. PET evaluation of D2-receptors with [76Br]bromolisuride showed no asymmetry of the D2 binding despite the important asymmetry of 18F-fluorodopa uptake. Our results indicate an important involvement of the nigral dopaminergic system in peduncular tremors that appears to be independent of postsynaptic dopamine receptors.
