Abstract #0419

Correlation of T2* & Susceptibility Mapping with Histochemistry in the SN

Anna I. Blazejewska¹, Samuel Wharton², James Lowe³, Dorothee P. Auer⁴, Nin Bajaj⁵, Richard W. Bowtell², Penny A. Gowland²

¹Sir Peter Mansfield Magnetic Resonance Centre , University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom; ²Sir Peter Mansfield Magnetic Resonance Centre, University of Nottingham; ³Division of Pathology, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust; ⁴Division of Academic Radiology, University of Nottingham; ⁵Division of Neurology, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

Death of neuromelanin containing dopaminergic neurones in the substantia nigra accompanied by iron accumulation is a pathological hallmark of Parkinsons disease (PD). Iron and neuromelanin are best identified histochemically in post mortem (PM) tissue. In this study we show that high resolution images and susceptibility maps acquired post mortem at 7T can be used to distinguish iron and neuromelanin in the SN. Overlap between the TH positive region and segmented neuromelanin confirmed robustness of the registration method and validity of the results. This will assist in interpretation of in vivo results.