MRI assessment of basal ganglia iron deposition in Parkinson's disease.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the levels of basal ganglia iron levels in Parkinson's disease (PD) using the PRIME MR sequence at 3.0 Tesla, in relation to patients' motor symptom severity.


METHODS
Seventy patients with PD and 10 healthy controls underwent assessment of movement and MR imaging. Mean R2' relaxation rates were recorded in the substantia nigra, frontal white matter and in the rostral, mid, and caudal putamen.


RESULTS
R2' relaxation rates were significantly higher in patients with PD than in healthy controls. R2' in the most affected substantia nigra correlated with PD patients' motor symptom severity, but not with disease duration. Neuroradiological observation revealed a rostral to caudal "gradient" of putaminal hypointensity. This was substantiated by the finding that the mid and caudal putamen showed significantly higher R2' relaxation rates, consistent with higher iron levels in PD relative to the healthy controls.


CONCLUSIONS
MRI at 3.0 Tesla suggests that substantia nigra iron levels are increased and linked to the severity of motor symptoms experienced in PD. Findings consistent with increased iron levels in the PD putamen are shown, in a region-specific rostral to caudal gradient.
Wallis
Lauren I
LI
Academic Unit of Radiology, The University of Sheffield, and Department of Clinical Neurology, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, United Kingdom. l.wallis@sheffield.ac.uk
Paley
Martyn N J
MN
Graham
Jacqueline M
JM
Grünewald
Richard A
RA
Wignall
Emma L
EL
Joy
Harriet M
HM
Griffiths
Paul D
PD
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000465:Algorithms; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D007501:Iron / Q000032:analysis*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D007501:Iron