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High resolution magnetic susceptibility mapping of the substantia nigra in Parkinson's disease
Author(s) -
Lotfipour Ashley K.,
Wharton Samuel,
Schwarz Stefan T.,
Gontu V.,
Schäfer Andreas,
Peters Andrew M.,
Bowtell Richard W.,
Auer Dorothee P.,
Gowland Penny A.,
Bajaj Nin P.S.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.22752
Subject(s) - quantitative susceptibility mapping , substantia nigra , pars compacta , parkinson's disease , susceptibility weighted imaging , magnetic susceptibility , disease , magnetic resonance imaging , pathology , high resolution , medicine , nuclear magnetic resonance , chemistry , radiology , physics , remote sensing , crystallography , geology
Purpose: To determine if tissue magnetic susceptibility is a more direct marker of tissue iron content than other MR markers of iron. This study presents the first quantitative, in vivo measurements of the susceptibility of the substantia nigra in patients with Parkinson's disease. Materials and Methods: Nine patients and 11 controls were studied at 7 Tesla. Susceptibility maps were created by inverting the filtered phase maps associated with T2* weighted images. Results: On average, patients showed an increase in susceptibility of the pars compacta compared with controls, which correlates with the predicted increase in brain iron in Parkinson's disease. A rostral–caudal gradient in susceptibility was also observed in controls and patients. Conclusion: Susceptibility mapping may provide a new tool for studying the development of Parkinson's disease. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2012;35:48‐55. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.