Classification of symptom-side predominance in idiopathic Parkinson’s disease

Asymmetry of symptom onset in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is strongly linked to differential diagnosis, progression of disease, and clinical manifestation, suggesting its importance in terms of specifying a therapeutic strategy for each individual patient. To scrutinize the predictive value of this consequential clinical phenomenon as a neuromarker supporting a personalized therapeutic approach, we modeled symptom-side predominance at disease onset based on brain morphology assessed with magnetic resonance (MR) images by utilizing machine learning classification. The integration of multimodal MR imaging data into a multivariate statistical model led to predict left- and right-sided symptom onset with an above-chance accuracy of 96%. By absolute numbers, all but one patient were correctly classified. Interestingly, mainly hippocampal morphology supports this prediction. Considering a different disease formation of this single outlier and the strikingly high classification, this approach proves a reliable predictive model for symptom-side diagnostics in PD. In brief, this work hints toward individualized disease-modifying therapies rather than symptom-alleviating treatments.