Journal of Neurology

, Volume 256, Issue 10, pp 1671–1680 | Cite as

Degenerative changes were common in brain magnetic resonance imaging in patients with newly diagnosed Parkinson’s disease in a population-based cohort

  • Jan Linder
  • Richard Birgander
  • Ingegerd Olsson
  • Katrine Riklund
  • Ann-Katrine Larsson
  • Mona Edström
  • Hans Stenlund
  • Lars Forsgren
Original Communication
First Online:
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate newly diagnosed patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) with structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to compare them with healthy controls, to relate the findings to clinical subtypes—tremor dominant (TD) or postural instability and gait difficulty (PIGD)—and to investigate the relationship between both the duration from onset of symptoms to diagnosis and the severity of symptoms and the MRI findings. Patients with a definite PD diagnosis were compared to patients with a probable PD diagnosis. We hypothesized that the PIGD subtype, the probable PD group, a greater symptom severity and a longer symptom duration would all be associated with more frequent pathological findings. Sixty-six PD patients were included and examined with MRI, 35 with the PIGD subtype and 23 with the TD subtype. Fifty-three had definite PD and 13 probable PD. Thirty healthy individuals, matched for age and sex, served as controls. Degenerative changes in the cerebellar cortex and the superior cerebellar peduncle were significantly more common in the probable PD group than in the controls, suggesting the possibility of an emerging atypical parkinsonian disorder. No significant MRI differences were found between definite PD and controls, between definite PD and probable PD, nor between PIGD and TD. No significant associations were found between duration to diagnosis and MRI results, nor between severity of symptoms and MRI results. Thus, although pathological MRI findings were common they can not be used to separate subgroups of PD in newly diagnosed patients.

Keywords

MRI Parkinsonism Diagnosis Parkinson’s disease 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from The Swedish Medical Research Council, The Parkinson Foundation in Sweden, The Swedish Association of Persons with Neurological Disabilities, The University of Umeå, the Foundation for Clinical Neuroscience at Umeå University Hospital, Västerbotten County Council (ALF) and King Gustaf V’s and Queen Victoria’s foundation.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 2009

Authors and Affiliations

  • Jan Linder
    • 1
  • Richard Birgander
    • 2
  • Ingegerd Olsson
    • 2
  • Katrine Riklund
    • 2
  • Ann-Katrine Larsson
    • 2
  • Mona Edström
    • 1
  • Hans Stenlund
    • 3
  • Lars Forsgren
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of NeurologyUmeå University HospitalUmeåSweden
  2. 2.Department of Radiation SciencesUmeå University HospitalUmeåSweden
  3. 3.Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Epidemiology and Public Health SciencesUmeå University HospitalUmeåSweden

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