title: Transcranial brain parenchyma sonography in movement disorders: state of the art.
abstract: The present paper summarizes recommendations on transcranial sonography (TCS) application in neurodegenerative diseases, resulting from a consensus meeting of the European Society of Neurosonology and Cerebral Hemodynamics. TCS of distinct infra- and supratentorial brain structures detects characteristic changes in several movement disorders, such as abnormal hyperechogenicity of substantia nigra (SN) in Parkinson's disease and of lenticular nucleus in dystonia, Wilson's disease and atypical Parkinsonian disorders. In healthy adults, the TCS finding of marked SN hyperechogenicity indicates a subclinical functional impairment of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system. The finding of marked SN hyperechogenicity in combination with normal lenticular-nucleus echogenicity discriminates idiopathic Parkinson's disease from multiple-system atrophy and progressive supranuclear palsy with a positive predictive value of more than 90%. As TCS is a quick and noninvasive method, using the same duplex-ultrasound machines as for investigation of intracranial vessels, applicable even in agitated patients, this method has a great potential to be more widely used.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany. uwe.walter@med.uni-rostock.de
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Walter
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Behnke
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eyding
authors.forename: Ludwig
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Niehaus
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Postert
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Seidel
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berg
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial / Q000379:methods*