Brain atrophy and white matter hyperintensities in early Parkinson's disease |
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| Authors: | Turi O. Dalaker MD Jan P. Larsen MD PhD Niels Bergsland BA Mona K. Beyer MD PhD Guido Alves MD PhD Michael G. Dwyer BS Ole‐Bjorn Tysnes MD PhD Ralph H.B. Benedict PhD Arpad Kelemen PhD Kolbjorn Bronnick PhD Robert Zivadinov MD PhD |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Neurology, Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA;2. Department of Radiology, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway;3. The Norwegian Centre for Movement Disorders, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway;4. Department of Neurology, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway;5. Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway;6. Department of Neurology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway;7. Department of Neurology, The Jacobs Neurological Institute, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA |
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| Abstract: | 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 |
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| Keywords: | Parkinson's disease MRI brain atrophy SIENAX white matter hyperintensities cognition |
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