Prefrontal and hippocampal atrophy using 7-tesla magnetic resonance imaging in patients with Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Background The pathology of Parkinson’s disease leads to morphological changes in brain structure. Currently, the progressive changes in gray matter volume that occur with time and are specific to patients with Parkinson’s disease, compared to healthy controls, remain unclear. High-tesla magnetic resonance imaging might be useful in differentiating neurological disorders by brain cortical changes. Purpose We aimed to investigate patterns in gray matter changes in patients with Parkinson’s disease by using an automated segmentation method with 7-tesla magnetic resonance imaging. Material and Methods High-resolution T1-weighted 7 tesla magnetic resonance imaging volumes of 24 hemispheres were acquired from 12 Parkinson’s disease patients and 12 age- and sex-matched healthy controls with median ages of 64.5 (range, 41–82) years and 60.5 (range, 25–74) years, respectively. Subgroup analysis was performed according to whether axial motor symptoms were present in the Parkinson’s disease patients. Cortical volume, cortical thickness, and subcortical volume were measured using a high-resolution image processing technique based on the Desikan-Killiany-Tourville atlas and an automated segmentation method (FreeSurfer version 6.0). Results After cortical reconstruction, in 7 tesla magnetic resonance imaging volume segmental analysis, compared with the healthy controls, the Parkinson’s disease patients showed global cortical atrophy, mostly in the prefrontal area (rostral middle frontal, superior frontal, inferior parietal lobule, medial orbitofrontal, rostral anterior cingulate area), and subcortical volume atrophy in limbic/paralimbic areas (fusiform, hippocampus, amygdala). Conclusion We first demonstrated that 7 tesla magnetic resonance imaging detects structural abnormalities in Parkinson’s disease patients compared to healthy controls using an automated segmentation method. Compared with the healthy controls, the Parkinson’s disease patients showed global prefrontal cortical atrophy and hippocampal area atrophy.

Morphological changes in Parkinson's disease based on magnetic resonance imaging: A mini-review of subcortical structures segmentation and shape analysis

“…This review focuses on the results of patients on 3T instruments, and participants were scanned using a 1.5T MRI instrument and used manual planar measurements, revealing that the normalized STN and red nuclei volumes were larger in patients with PD than in controls[ 68 ]. Similarly, 7TMRI imaging revealed atrophy of the overall prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, as well as a reduction in STN volume, for patients with PD[ 41 , 69 ]. Although current studies on 7TMRI have focused only on volumetric rather than morphological changes, higher resolution instruments can help us to detect finer structural changes and conduct more structural studies.…”

Evaluating the role of 7-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging in neurosurgery: Trends in literature since clinical approval

“…Recently, Oh et al [ 25 ] employed high-resolution T1-weighted 7T MRI to investigate gray matter changes in Parkinson's disease (PD). The examination involved 12 patients and age- and sex-matched controls, with subgroup analysis based on the presence of axial motor symptoms.…”

Ultra-high field imaging of the amygdala – A review

“…They targeted subcortical structures associated with stress and pain (i.e., amygdala, hippocampus, and thalamus) and found volume reduction of the basal and the paralaminar nucleus ipsilateral to the pain symptoms, alongside structural alterations in thalamic substructures. Oh et al (2021) studied grey matter changes in patients with Parkinson's disease on a 7 T level. Besides prefrontal, hippocampal, and fusiform gyrus atrophy, there were significant volume reductions in the right, but not the left amygdala in patients with Parkinson's disease.…”