title: Transcranial sonography of the substantia nigra and MIBG myocardial scintigraphy: complementary role in the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
abstract: Both transcranial sonography (TCS) of the substantia nigra (SN) and metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) myocardial scintigraphy have been determined to be useful for the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD). In the present study, we performed both tests in 65 consecutive Japanese patients with idiopathic PD. In 30 PD patients (46.2%), the midbrain was adequately displayed by TCS allowing quantitative measurements of SN hyperechogenic areas. No significant correlation was found between the area of SN echogenicity and the reduction of myocardial uptake of MIBG. However, if the cut-off value was appropriately set, 29 patients (97%) were identified as abnormal by combined TCS and MIBG myocardial scintigraphy. Since TCS and MIBG myocardial scintigraphy can distinctively detect PD-related pathological phenomenon, it is expected that the combination of these tests could contribute to an accurate diagnosis of PD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Wakayama Medical University, 811-1 Kimiidera, Wakayama City, Wakayama 641-8510, Japan. y-kajimo@wakayama-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kajimoto
authors.forename: Hideto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miwa
authors.forename: Masae
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okawa-Izawa
authors.forename: Masaya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hironishi
authors.forename: Tomoyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kondo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006146:Guanidines; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055414:Myocardial Perfusion Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D006146:Guanidines; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C117872:benzylguanidine