Brief Report

No correlation of substantia nigra echogenicity and nigrostriatal degradation in Parkinson's disease†

  1. Elmar Lobsien MD1,
  2. Simon Schreiner MD1,
  3. Michail Plotkin MD2,
  4. Andreas Kupsch MD1,
  5. Stephan J. Schreiber MD1,
  6. Florian Doepp MD1,*

Article first published online: 11 JAN 2012

DOI: 10.1002/mds.24070

Issue

Movement Disorders

Movement Disorders

Volume 27, Issue 3, pages 450–453, March 2012

Additional Information

How to Cite

Lobsien, E., Schreiner, S., Plotkin, M., Kupsch, A., Schreiber, S. J. and Doepp, F. (2012), No correlation of substantia nigra echogenicity and nigrostriatal degradation in Parkinson's disease. Mov. Disord., 27: 450–453. doi: 10.1002/mds.24070

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Neurology, Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Oncology, Charité, University-Medicine Berlin, Germany

  2. 2

    Department of Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Oncology, Charité, University-Medicine Berlin, Germany

*Department of Neurology, Charité, University-Medicine Berlin, Augustenburgerplatz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany

  1. †

    Relevant conflicts of interest/financial disclosures: Nothing to report.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 12 MAR 2012
  2. Article first published online: 11 JAN 2012
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 21 NOV 2011
  4. Manuscript Revised: 16 NOV 2011
  5. Manuscript Received: 15 APR 2011

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Keywords:

  • FP-CIT-SPECT;
  • Parkinson's disease;
  • substantia nigra hyperechogenicity;
  • transcranial sonography

Abstract

Background:

Substantia nigra hyperechogenicity assessed by transcranial sonography is a typical finding in up to 90% of patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease, although its value as a surrogate marker for disease progression in Parkinson's disease is controversial. 123I-FP-CIT–single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) represents an established paraclinical surrogate marker to quantify the nigrostriatal dopaminergic deficit in Parkinson's disease. Whereas most studies found no correlation between extent of substantia nigra echogenicity and the putaminal FP-CIT binding ratio, a more recent analysis reported opposite results.

Methods:

In 92 patients with Parkinson's disease the substantia nigra echogenicity was compared with the putaminal FP-CIT binding ratio using an investigator-independent SPECT analysis protocol and with several clinical parameters.

Results:

No correlation was found between the substantia nigra hyperechogenicity and the FP-CIT binding ratio or the disease severity.

Conclusions:

Substantia nigra hyperechogenicity does not reflect the degree of the nigrostriatal degeneration or the clinical state of the disease progression. © 2012 Movement Disorder Society

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