RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Thalamic Projection Fiber Integrity in de novo Parkinson Disease
JF American Journal of Neuroradiology
JO Am. J. Neuroradiol.
FD American Society of Neuroradiology
SP 74
OP 79
DO 10.3174/ajnr.A3178
VO 34
IS 1
A1 Planetta, P.J.
A1 Schulze, E.T.
A1 Geary, E.K.
A1 Corcos, D.M.
A1 Goldman, J.G.
A1 Little, D.M.
A1 Vaillancourt, D.E.
YR 2013
UL http://www.ajnr.org/content/34/1/74.abstract
AB BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Postmortem studies of advanced PD have revealed disease-related pathology in the thalamus with an apparent predilection for specific thalamic nuclei. In the present study, we used DTI to investigate in vivo the microstructural integrity of 6 thalamic regions in de novo patients with PD relative to healthy controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty subjects (20 with early stage untreated PD and 20 age- and sex-matched controls) were studied with a high-resolution DTI protocol at 3T to investigate the integrity of thalamic nuclei projection fibers. Two blinded, independent raters drew ROIs in the following 6 thalamic regions: AN, VA, VL, DM, VPL/VPM, and PU. FA values were then calculated from the projection fibers in each region. RESULTS: FA values were reduced significantly in the fibers projecting from the AN, VA, and DM, but not the VPL/VPM and PU, in the PD group compared with the control group. In addition, there was a reduction in FA values that approached significance in the VL of patients with PD. These findings were consistent across both raters. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides preliminary in vivo evidence of thalamic projection fiber degeneration in de novo PD and sheds light on the extent of disrupted thalamic circuitry as a result of the disease itself. ANanterior nucleusDMdorsomedial nucleusFAfractional anisotropyPDParkinson diseasePUpulvinarSNsubstantia nigraVAventral anterior nucleusVLventral lateral nucleusVPLventral posterior lateral nucleusVPMventral posterior medial nucleus