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Abstract #2472

Quantifying nigral alterations in Parkinson's disease using neuromelanin and diffusion tensor imaging

hiroto takahashi1, Yoshiyuki Watanabe1, hisashi tanaka1, masahito mihara2, hideki mochizuki2, and noriyuki tomiyama1

1Radiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan, 2Neurology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan

Dopaminergic neurodegeneration of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) in Parkinson's disease (PD) was evaluated quantitatively using both neuromelanin and diffusion tensor imaging. For the highly reproducible image analysis of the SNpc, an automatic region-of-interest selection method was developed with a voxel-based morphometric technique. Neuromelanin which can directly quantify dopaminergic neurodegeneration and mean diffusivity could differentiate PD patients from healthy controls and were correlated with each other. We conclude that a voxel-based evaluation using both neuromelanin and diffusion tensor imaging can reveal PD related neurodegenerative changes in the SNpc and may be a useful technique for quantitative diagnosis of PD.

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