Risk factors for cerebral arteriosclerosis in Parkinson's disease.
A previous study showed a lower incidence of ischemic stroke in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) than in controls. It has been speculated that this may be related to less severe atherosclerosis in PD. In this study we examined the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and blood chemistry in 106 parkinsonian patients and compared the data with those from control cases. Abnormal MRI findings (état criblé, lacunar infarctions or periventricular hyperintensity) were found in 55.7% of cases. No case of cortical artery infarction was found. In comparison with a control population, the PD group showed a lower frequency of hypercholesterolemia, a higher frequency of low HDL cholesterol and a lower frequency of obesity. These results suggest that patients with PD have a reduction in risk factors for cortical artery infarction.
Kawata
M
M
Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Chiba University Chiba, Japan.
Nemoto
Y
Y
Asahina
M
M
Moroo
I
I
Shinomiya
M
M
Yamada
T
T