Comparison of the Brain Volume in Essential Tremor and Parkinson's Disease Tremor Using an Automated Segmentation Method.
BACKGROUND
Essential tremor (ET) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are common neurological disorders in elderly people, and some features of ET and PD may overlap. Quantitative analysis of brain atrophy may be useful in differentiating neurodegenerative disorders. The aim of this study was to identify the volumetric differences of subcortical structures in patients with ET and PD tremor using an automated segmentation method.


METHODS
Volumetric MRIs were obtained in 45 patients with ET, 45 patients with PD tremor, and 45 age- and sex-matched control subjects. The volume of the different brain structures was measured by the automated segmentation method (FreeSurfer).


RESULTS
Volumetric data obtained with automated segmentation of cerebral regions showed a significant atrophy of the cerebellum in patients with ET. Cerebellar atrophy of ET patients was more significant in the white matter than in the grey matter, and it was noted only in patients with ET having a head tremor. No volumetric differences were found between the PD group and the control group.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study suggests that volumetric differences in subcortical structures using whole brain segmentation method may help to differentiate ET from PD tremor.
Department of Neurology, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
Seong-Min
SM
Choi
Byeong C
BC
Kim
Jane
J
Chang
Kang-Ho
KH
Choi
Tai-Seung
TS
Nam
Joon-Tae
JT
Kim
Seung-Han
SH
Lee
Man-Seok
MS
Park
Woong
W
Yoon
Mony J
MJ
de Leon
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D020329:Essential Tremor / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*