CT Examination Series of Parkinson Patients

Abstract

Only a few investigations have so far been made (FRAENKL, 1926; GATH etal., 1975; SELBY, 1968; SVENNILSON et al,, 1960)on the subject of cerebral atrophic change sex perienced by Parkinson patients. Before the introduction of CT such in vivo studies could be realized only by means of pneumoencephalograhy, and as a consequence the scope of such studies was rather limited. CT offers the possibility of approaching these problems anew. With the aim of studying the extent of cerebral atrophy in Parkinson patients and determining its significance for the clinical symptomatology and the therapeutic success, CT was performed on 172 patients with the prototype of the Siretom (image matrix 80 x 80). Some of these patients were later subjected to a follow-up examination with the Siretom 11 (image matrix 128 x 128) and the resulting images were selected for the illustrations shown here. The measurements were taken inform of 1-cm thick slices parallel to the orbito-meatalline and in the range of 3-11 cm above the orbito-meatalline. All CT examinations could be evaluated although pronounced streaking artifacts and nodular density zones near the calvaria were found in 12 patients (7%) because of head tremor. Sedative drugs or anesthetics were not administered. After termination of the examinations, the CT series were evaluated by a single person according to a scheme based on standard criteria.