title: [Transcranial sonography of substantia nigra in patients with Parkinson's disease].
abstract: Recent advances in basic research toward neuroprotective strategies of Parkinson's disease (PD) are increasingly highlighting the need for early diagnosis of PD. Substantia nigra (SN) hyperechogenicity, as visualized by transcranial sonography, has been heralded as a particularly useful diagnostic marker, as it is stable and remains unchanged with advancing stages of PD. In addition, SN hyperechogenicity is observable in patients in the very early stage, or even premorbid stages of PD. Prior studies have shown that SN hyperechogenicity is observable in approximately 90% of patients with PD and up to 10% of healthy controls. It has been hypothetically proposed that may be a vulnerability marker for nigrostriatal dopamine neuronds and may be related to an increase in iron content. It is expected that transcranial sonography of SN will be a feasible method for more accurate diagnosis of PD.
authors.affiliation: Deaprtment of Neurology, Juntendo University Nerima Hospital.
authors.forename: Hideto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miwa
mesh_terms: D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D007501:Iron