Dae-Hyuk Kwon1, Jong-Min Kim2,
Se-Hong Oh1, Hye-Jin Jeong1, Sung-Yeon Park1,
Je-Geun Chi1,3, Young-Bo Kim1, Beom-Seok Jeon2,
Zang-Hee Cho1
1Neuroscience Research
Institute, Gachon University of Medicine & Science, Kuwol-dong
Namdong-gu, Incheon, Korea, Republic of; 2Departments of
Neurology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of; 3Departments
of Pathology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of
We investigated 3D structural deformations of the substantia nigra (SN) in Parkinsons disease (PD). To achieve this, we obtained 3D fast gradient echo image with 7T MRI in order to understand entire structure of the SN and performed quantitative surface analysis. High-resolution 7T 3D MR images showed the inner structures of the SN in normal controls. We found a striking similarity between our results and the patterns of subdivisions of the SN as observed using calbindin D28K immunostaining. These findings strongly suggest that two different contrasts in the SN observed with 7T MRI could be due to the nigrosomes, since these structures were scarcely seen in the patient group. Accordingly, this 3D imaging study demonstrates the potential of the 7T MRI for quantification of the structural changes in the SN, especially for the purposes of research and diagnosis of PD.