Journal
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 18, Issue 8, Pages 1093-1096Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2010.08.043
Keywords
Melanin; MRI; Neuromelanin; Parkinson's disease; Pars compacta; Substantia nigra
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by progressive degeneration of melanin-containing neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacts (SNc). Pathological change has not been detected by neuroimaging techniques in patients with PD in vivo. We examined 80 patients with PD to determine whether degeneration of the SNc is detectable in vivo by MRI. The age-matched controls consisted of 54 patients who had suffered mild acute ischemic stroke. Axial T1-weighted MRI were obtained with a 3-Tesla MRI scanner. The border of the neuromelanin-sensitive region in the SNc was traced manually on these images, and the volume of this area was calculated. The mean volumes for the left and right SNc were significantly reduced in patients with PD compared to the controls. Volume loss became marked in parallel with disease severity and duration. Neuromelanin MRI may be considered as a biomarker of nigral degeneration in patients with PD. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available