PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Tessitore, A.
AU  - Amboni, M.
AU  - Cirillo, G.
AU  - Corbo, D.
AU  - Picillo, M.
AU  - Russo, A.
AU  - Vitale, C.
AU  - Santangelo, G.
AU  - Erro, R.
AU  - Cirillo, M.
AU  - Esposito, F.
AU  - Barone, P.
AU  - Tedeschi, G.
TI  - Regional Gray Matter Atrophy in Patients with Parkinson Disease and Freezing of Gait
AID  - 10.3174/ajnr.A3066
DP  - 2012 Oct 01
TA  - American Journal of Neuroradiology
PG  - 1804--1809
VI  - 33
IP  - 9
4099  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/33/9/1804.short
4100  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/33/9/1804.full
SO  - Am. J. Neuroradiol.2012 Oct 01; 33
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: FOG is a troublesome symptom of PD. Despite growing evidence suggesting that FOG in PD may be associated with cognitive dysfunction, the relationship between regional brain atrophy and FOG has been poorly investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Optimized VBM was applied to 3T brain MR images of 24 patients with PD and 12 HC. Patients were classified as either FOG− or FOG+ (n = 12) based on their responses to a validated FOG Questionnaire and clinical observation. All patients with PD also underwent a detailed neuropsychological evaluation. RESULTS: The VBM analysis in patients with FOG+ showed a reduced GM volume in the left cuneus, precuneus, lingual gyrus, and posterior cingulate cortex compared with both patients with FOG− and HC. We did not detect any significant change of GM volume when comparing HC versus all patients with PD (FOG− and FOG+). FOG clinical severity was significantly correlated with GM loss in posterior cortical regions. Finally, patients with FOG+ scored lower on tests of frontal lobe function. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide the first evidence that the development of FOG in patients with PD is associated with posterior GM atrophy, which may play a role in the complex pathophysiology of this disabling symptom. 18Ffluorine 18FOGfreezing of gaitFOG-QFOG QuestionnaireFWEfamily-wise errorGMgray matterHChealthy controlsPDParkinson diseaseRCPMRaven's Colored Progressive MatricesUPDRSUnified Parkinson's Disease Rating ScaleVBMvoxel-based morphometry