title: Basal ganglia echogenicity in tauopathies.
abstract: Accumulating data confirm the usefulness of transcranial sonography (TCS) in the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. The relevance of basal ganglia abnormalities depicted by TCS in atypical parkinsonian syndromes still needs further assessment. In the present study, 20 patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and 13 patients with corticobasal syndrome (CBS) were studied with the use of transcranial sonography. Echogenicity of the substantia nigra (SN) and lenticular nucleus (LN) were assessed. 0/20 patients with PSP and 8/12 (66.6 %) patients with CBS were characterized with SN hyperechogenicity. LN hyperechogenicity was observed in 9/20 patients diagnosed with PSP and 0/11 of CBS patients. The combination of SN isoechogenicity and LN hyperechogenicity reached 100 % sensitivity and positive predictive value for the diagnosis of PSP. The results of this study point out that CBS has to be taken into consideration when SN hyperechogenicity is depicted in a patient with parkinsonian syndrome. Normal echogenicity of the SN coexisting with LN hyperechogenicity practically excludes CBS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Health Science Faculty, Warsaw Medical University, Kondratowicza 8, 03-242, Warsaw, Poland, sadowski.ks@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sadowski
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Serafin-Król
authors.forename: Karol
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Szlachta
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Friedman
mesh_terms: D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013494:Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D024801:Tauopathies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography