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Substantia nigra in Parkinson’s disease: a multimodal MRI comparison between early and advanced stages of the disease

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An Erratum to this article was published on 25 February 2014

Abstract

This study focused on the substantia nigra (SN) in Parkinson’s disease (PD). We measured its area and volume, mean diffusivity (MD), fractional anisotropy (FA) and iron concentration in early and late PD and correlated the values with clinical scores. Twenty-two early PD (EPD), 20 late PD (LPD) and 20 healthy subjects (age 64.7 ± 4.9, 60.5 ± 6.1, and 61 ± 7.2 years, respectively) underwent 1.5 T MR imaging with double-TI-IR T1-weighted, T2*-weighted and diffusion tensor imaging scans. Relative SN area, MD, FA and R2* were measured in ROIs traced on SN. Correlation with Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) scores was assessed. In LPD, the SN area was significantly reduced with respect to EPD (p = 0.04) and control subjects (p < 0.001). In EPD, the SN area was also significantly smaller than in controls (p = 0.006). Similarly, the SN volume significantly differed between LPD and controls (p = 0.001) and between EPD and LPD (p = 0.049), while no significant differences were found between controls and EPD. Both SN area (r = 0.47, p = 0.004) and volume (r = 0.46, p = 0.005) correlated with UPDRS scores. At 1.5 T, SN morphological measurements were sensitive to early PD changes and able to track the disease progression, while MD and FA measures and relaxometry did not provide significant results.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Italian Ministry of Health, RF 110 (ex art 56), year 2010.

Conflict of interest

There were no real or perceived conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroradiology Department, IRCCS Foundation Neurological Institute Carlo Besta, Via Celoria, 11, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Domenico Aquino, Valeria Contarino, Laura Farina, Marina Grisoli, Maria Grazia Bruzzone & Luisa Chiapparini

  2. 1st Neurology Unit, IRCCS Foundation Neurological Institute Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy

    Alberto Albanese & Antonio Elia

  3. Scientific Department, IRCCS Foundation Neurological Institute Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy

    Ludovico Minati

Authors
  1. Domenico Aquino
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  2. Valeria Contarino
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  3. Alberto Albanese
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  4. Ludovico Minati
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  5. Laura Farina
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  6. Marina Grisoli
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  7. Antonio Elia
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  8. Maria Grazia Bruzzone
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  9. Luisa Chiapparini
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Correspondence to Domenico Aquino.

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Aquino, D., Contarino, V., Albanese, A. et al. Substantia nigra in Parkinson’s disease: a multimodal MRI comparison between early and advanced stages of the disease. Neurol Sci 35, 753–758 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-013-1595-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-013-1595-2

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