title: Transcranial sonography in spinocerebellar ataxia type 2.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the use of transcranial brain parenchyma sonography (TCS), in particular the echogenic signal in the substantia nigra (SN), in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2), recently recognized as an uncommon cause of parkinsonism.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six consecutive and unrelated SCA2 patients without parkinsonian signs, 30 consecutive patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), and 30 healthy, age- and sexmatched controls were prospectively studied with TCS according to a standardized protocol.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four (67 %) of the six SCA2 patients exhibited SN hyperechogenicity. In two patients, the hyperechogenicity was classified as moderate (unilateral in both) and in two as marked. Differences between the SN echogenicity of the SCA2 group or the PD group and controls were statistically significant (p < 0.001), while there was no difference between the two groups of patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Transcranial brain parenchyma sonography detects SN hyperechogenicity in the majority of patients with SCA2 without parkinsonian signs. It would be important to reproduce our TCS findings in a larger number of SCA2 patients, as well as to test their possible significance in differentiating SCA2 from other types of SCA.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurology, CCS Medical School, Ul. Dr Subotić a 6, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Milija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mijajlović
authors.forename: Natasa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dragasević
authors.forename: Elka
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stefanova
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Petrović
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Svetel
authors.forename: Vladimir S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Kostić
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020754:Spinocerebellar Ataxias / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial / Q000379:methods*