(18F)-FDG PET/CT AND MRI IN DIAGNOSIS OF IDIOPATHIC LATE-ONSET CEREBELLAR ATAXIA 1 Ara Kaprelyan, 2 Pavel Bochev, 1 Alexandra Tzoukeva, 1 Margarita Grudkova, 1 Borislav Ivanov, 3 Radoslav Georgiev, 1 Daniela Arabadjieva 1 Department of Neurology and Neurosciences, 2 Depatment of Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy, and 3 Department of Roentgenology; Faculty of Medicine, Medical University “Prof. P. Stoyanov” 55 Marin Drinov Street 9002 Varna, Bulgaria Е-mail: arakapri07@yahoo.co.uk Telephone: +35952978313 Abstract Adult-onset progressive cerebellar disorders can result from many pathological processes. The diagnosis is usually based on the medical history, neurological examination, laboratory investigations, and presence of cerebellar atrophy on CT and MRI. In addition, SPECT and PET have been used in detection of genetic and non-genetic ataxias. We studied the cerebral glucose metabolism and neurological dysfunction in 7 patients with late-onset cerebellar ataxia. All patients underwent (18F)-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) PET scanning with Phillips Gemini TF (16slice) PET/CT. The age at progressive cerebellar symptoms onset was over 45 years. Detailed medical history, physical findings and laboratory tests excluded other acquired causes of cerebellar ataxia. CT scans and MRI revealed presence of cerebellar and brainstem atrophy. (18F)-FDG PET showed moderate to severe cerebellar and brainstem hypometabolism. Based on our own clinical and neuroimaging findings, we support the notion that brain FDG PET scanning may be useful as a complimentary diagnostic tool in evaluation of patients with late- onset progressive cerebellar syndromes. Keywords: cerebellar ataxia, (18F)-FDG PET/CT, cerebral glucose metabolism, brain atrophy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Introduction Adult-onset progressive cerebellar disorders can result from many pathological processes, including malformations, degenerations, vascular diseases, infections, neoplasms, paraneoplastic syndromes, toxic/metabolic disorders, and demyelinating disease (1, 14). The diagnosis of degenerative cerebellar diseases is usually based on the medical history, neurological SCIENTIFIC COOPERATIONS MEDICAL WORKSHOPS 21-22 July, 2015, Istanbul - TURKEY SCIENTIFIC COOPERATIONS MEDICAL WORKSHOPS