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Substantia nigra hyperechogenicity and Parkinson's disease risk in patients with essential tremor
Author(s) -
Sprenger Fabienne S.,
Wurster Isabel,
Seppi Klaus,
Stockner Heike,
Scherfler Christoph,
Sojer Martin,
Schmidauer Christof,
Berg Daniela,
Poewe Werner
Publication year - 2016
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.26515
Subject(s) - substantia nigra , parkinson's disease , essential tremor , medicine , degenerative disease , central nervous system disease , disease , physical medicine and rehabilitation
Background Several studies have reported an increased risk for patients with essential tremor to develop Parkinson's disease. In addition, hyperechogenicity in the area of the substantia nigra has been associated with a markedly increased risk for Parkinson's disease. The objective of this study was to evaluate the validity of substantia nigra hyperechogenicity in patients with essential tremor as a risk marker for Parkinson's disease. Methods Transcranial sonography was performed in 70 patients suffering from essential tremor. Fifty‐four of these patients were available for follow‐up after a mean of 6.16 ± 2.05 years and were assessed for the incidence of new‐onset Parkinson's disease. Results The relative risk for developing Parkinson's disease in patients with essential tremor who had hyperechogenicity at baseline versus those without this hyperechogenicity was 7.00 (95% confidence interval, 1.62–30.34; sensitivity, 77.8%; specificity, 75.6%). Conclusions Substantia nigra hyperechogenicity is also associated with an increased risk for Parkinson's disease in patients with essential tremor. These findings further support the potential role of this echofeature as a risk marker for Parkinson's disease. © 2016 Movement Disorder Society