%0 Journal Article
%T Stridor-related gray matter alterations in multiple system atrophy: A pilot study.
%A Testa C
%A Calandra-Buonaura G
%A Evangelisti S
%A Giannini G
%A Provini F
%A Ratti S
%A Cecere A
%A Talozzi L
%A Manners DN
%A Lodi R
%A Tonon C
%A Cortelli P
%J Parkinsonism Relat Disord
%V 62
%N 0
%D 05 2019
%M 30509725
%F 4.402
%R 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2018.11.018
%X The neuroanatomical substrate of stridor associated with Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) remains unclear. We evaluated stridor-related gray matter (GM) changes in MSA.<BR>36 MSA patients underwent standardized nocturnal video-polysomnography and brain MRI. Differences in GM density between MSA patients with and without stridor and a sample of 22 matched healthy controls were evaluated with Voxel Based Morphometry protocol supplemented by a specific tool (SUIT) for analysing infratentorial structures.<BR>Stridor was confirmed in 14 patients (10 MSA-cerebellar variant; 10 M; mean ± SD age = 61.6 ± 8.9years; disease duration = 5.2 ± 2.9years) and absent in 22 (11 MSA-cerebellar variant; 18 M; age = 61.4 ± 9.9years; disease duration = 4.8 ± 3.4years). Compared to MSA without stridor, patients with stridor showed higher GM density in the cerebellum (p < 0.05, corrected for the MSA-cerebellar variant and uncorrected when considering both MSA-variants) and lower in the striatum (p < 0.05, uncorrected).<BR>This preliminary study has demonstrated for the first time in MSA stridor-related GM changes in striatal and cerebellar regions. Abnormalities in these regions were previously reported in dystonic disorders affecting laryngeal muscles, suggesting the hypothesis that stridor pathophysiology is dystonia-related. These results need however to be confirmed in a larger sample of patients.