Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-5g6vh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T10:55:20.685Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 48 - Neuroimaging and fatal familial insomnia

from Section 5 - Neuroimaging of sleep disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2013

Eric Nofzinger
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Pierre Maquet
Affiliation:
Université de Liège, Belgium
Michael J. Thorpy
Affiliation:
Sleep-Wake Disorders Center, Montefiore Medical Center, New York
Get access

Summary

This chapter focuses on the neuroimaging alterations in fatal familial insomnia (FFI) and their pathological correlates. Autonomic studies in FFI have shown higher blood pressure and heart rate in the resting state with elevated levels of norepinephrine, which further increase on postural challenge or Valsalva maneuver. The two- to three fold increases in serum norepinephrine level and the absence of the physiological nocturnal peak of melatonin secretion are the prominent hormonal markers of the disease. The neuropathological hallmark of FFI is severe atrophy of the anterior ventral and mediodorsal thalamic nuclei with loss of 80-90% of the neurons and two- to three fold increase in astroglial cells, whereas spongiosis is conspicuously absent. FFI is probably the most challenging of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) to diagnose because brain lesions are confined to the thalamus. Brain conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) shows no specific changes in familial or sporadic forms of FI.
Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×