PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - David S. Goldstein
AU  - Yehonatan Sharabi
AU  - Barbara I. Karp
AU  - Oladi Bentho
AU  - Ahmed Saleem
AU  - Karel Pacak
AU  - Graeme Eisenhofer
TI  - Cardiac sympathetic denervation preceding motor signs in Parkinson disease
AID  - 10.3949/ccjm.76.s2.10
DP  - 2009 Feb 01
TA  - Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
PG  - S47--S50
VI  - 76
IP  - 4 suppl 2
4099  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/76/4_suppl_2/S47.short
4100  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/76/4_suppl_2/S47.full
SO  - Cleve Clin J Med2009 Feb 01; 76
AB  - There is substantial interest in identifying biomarkers to detect early Parkinson disease (PD). Cardiac noradrenergic denervation and attenuated baroreflex-cardiovagal function occur in de novo PD, but whether these abnormalities can precede PD has been unknown. Here we report the case of a patient who had profoundly decreased left ventricular myocardial 6-[18F]fluorodopamine-derived radioactivity and low baroreflex-cardiovagal gain, 4 years before the onset of symptoms and signs of PD. The results lead us to hypothesize that cardiac noradrenergic denervation and decreased baroreflex-cardiovagal function may occur early in the pathogenesis of PD.