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Abstract #1963

Perfusion Networks in Parkinsons Disease Revealed Using Arterial Spin Labeling

Tracy R. Melzer1,2, Richard Watts, 1,3, Michael R. MacAskill1,2, Ross Keenan4, Ajit Shankaranarayanan5, David C. Alsop6, Charlotte Graham1,2, Leslie Livingston1, John C. Dalrymple-Alford, 1,7, Tim J. Anderson1,2

1Van der Veer Institute for Parkinson's and Brain Research, Christchurch, New Zealand; 2Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand; 3Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand; 4Christchurch Radiology Group, Christchurch, New Zealand; 5GE Healthcare, Menlo Park, CA, United States; 6Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States; 7Pyschology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand


Pseudo-continuous ASL was used to investigate cerebral blood flow in 44 Parkinsons disease (PD) patients and 26 controls. Principal component analysis produced a set of covariance patterns which were used to form a perfusion network that successfully distinguished PD from control. The PD-related network was characterized by decreased perfusion in PD versus controls in bilateral posterior parietal-occipital regions, posterior medial cortices, precentral and bilateral middle frontal gyri, and left caudate. Preserved perfusion occurred in bilateral globus pallidus. This ASL-derived PD network provides a marker to objectively gauge disease severity and serves as a potential method to longitudinally track disease progression.