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Brain atrophy and white matter hyperintensities in early Parkinson's disease
Author(s) -
Dalaker Turi O.,
Larsen Jan P.,
Bergsland Niels,
Beyer Mona K.,
Alves Guido,
Dwyer Michael G.,
Tysnes OleBjorn,
Benedict Ralph H.B.,
Kelemen Arpad,
Bronnick Kolbjorn,
Zivadinov Robert
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
movement disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.352
H-Index - 198
eISSN - 1531-8257
pISSN - 0885-3185
DOI - 10.1002/mds.22754
Subject(s) - hyperintensity , atrophy , parkinson's disease , psychology , cardiology , brain size , cognition , medicine , white matter , magnetic resonance imaging , depression (economics) , cognitive decline , physical medicine and rehabilitation , audiology , disease , neuroscience , dementia , radiology , macroeconomics , economics
The purpose of this research was to examine the extent of global brain atrophy and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in early Parkinson's disease (PD) compared to normal controls (NC), to explore the relationship between the MRI variables and cognition in PD. In this multicenter study we included 155 PD patients (age 65.6 ± 9.1 years, disease duration 26.7 ± 19.9 months) and 101 age‐matched NC. On 3D‐T1‐WI, we calculated normalized brain volumes using SIENAX software. WMH volumes were assessed semiautomatically. In PD patients, correlation and regression analyses investigated the association between atrophy and WMH outcomes and global, attention‐executive, visuospatial, and memory cognitive functions. Regression analysis was controlled for age, education, depression score, motor severity, cerebrovascular risk, and sex. No significant MRI variable volume group differences were found. The models did not retain any of the imaging variables as significant predictors of cognitive impairment. There was no evidence of brain atrophy or higher WMH volume in PD compared to NC, and MRI volumetric measurements were not significant predictors of cognitive functions in PD patients. We conclude that global structural brain changes are not a major feature in patients with incident PD. © 2009 Movement Disorder Society