Abstract #1108

Arterial Spin Labeling in the Identification of Abnormal Perfusion Patterns in Early, Drug-Nave Parkinson's Disease

Tracy Robert Melzer^1,2, Richard Watts^1,3, Michael R. MacAskill^1,2, Ross Keenan⁴, Ajit Shankaranarayanan⁵, David C. Alsop⁶, Charlotte Graham^1,2, Leslie Livingston^1,2, John C. Dalrymple-Alford^1,7, Tim J. Anderson^1,2

¹Van der Veer Institute, 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, USA; ⁶Beth Israel Deconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; ⁷Psychology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

Pseudo Continuous ASL was used to investigate cerebral blood flow in eight drug-nave Parkinsons disease (PD) patients and 16 controls. Principal component analysis resulted in a set of perfusion covariance patterns that successfully distinguished between patients and controls. The pattern was characterized by hypoperfusion in the bilateral posterior parietal-occipital region, extending anteriorly to include precentral and postcentral gyri, middle frontal gyrus, posterior medial cortex (principally precuneus) and left middle temporal lobe. The expression of this ASL derived perfusion pattern offers a potential early biomarker in PD that may also have value in presymptomatic individuals at risk of developing PD.