MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING: MYELIN FIBER INVOLVEMENT IN PARKINSON DISEASE

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a relatively new noninvasive technique, which allows the detection and examination of the composition, integrity, and orientation of discrete white matter fiber bundles. It does so by quantifying the random motion of water molecules driven by Brownian motion. Fractional anisotropy (FA) is one of the most widely used indices of white matter integrity. Recently, DTI and tractography have been applied to the study of Parkinson disease and have demonstrated diffusion changes in gray and white matter tissue. There is general decreased FA in subcortical structures such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and thalamus. Recent work evaluating focal white matter regions and fiber tracts has shown reduced FA in multiple fiber tracts including pons, substantia nigra. Full diffusion tensor MR imaging was performed for this purpose in 25 patients with Parkinson disease. We acquired data on a 1,5T MR system. Regional analysis showed statistically significant decrease of fractional anisotropy in different areas of white matter, such as genu of internal capsule, corpus callosum, white matter of frontal lobes, pons. We correlated these changes with clinical symptoms and disconnection lesions. So we are able to tell that diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging may become one of the most important tools in researching Parkinson disease