Progression of grey and white matter brain damage in Parkinson's disease: a critical review of structural MRI literature

Progressive brain atrophy and clinical evolution in Parkinson’s disease

“…Most consistent findings showed progressive cortical atrophy accumulation in basal ganglia, temporal/hippocampal, frontal and parietal areas in de novo PD cases and patients in the early/middle phase of the disease, with the achievement of a plateau in the later stage of the disease ( Lewis et al, 2016 , Melzer et al, 2015 , Mollenhauer et al, 2016 , Sampedro et al, 2019 , Sarasso et al, 2020 , Sterling et al, 2016 , Tessa et al, 2014 ). Stratifying patients according to disease severity, findings are more controversial, although showing a progressive atrophy of basal ganglia over 1 year of follow-up and a widespread cortical thinning over 3–6 years in mild to moderate PD patients ( Campabadal et al, 2017 , Ibarretxe-Bilbao et al, 2012 , Nürnberger et al, 2017 , Sarasso et al, 2020 ). Different studies stratified patients according to cognitive impairment ( Camicioli et al, 2011 , Caspell-Garcia et al, 2017 , Compta et al, 2013 , Foo et al, 2017 , Garcia-Diaz et al, 2018 , Gee et al, 2017 , Hanganu et al, 2014 , Mak et al, 2017 , Mak et al, 2015 , Ramírez–Ruiz et al, 2005 ) but only few studies used prediction models showing that atrophy of the hippocampus, fronto-temporal areas, caudate, thalamus and accumbens might foresee mild cognitive impairment or dementia conversion in PD patients ( Foo et al, 2017 , Sarasso et al, 2020 , Zhou et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Over the years, numerous cross-sectional MRI studies demonstrated more profound grey matter (GM) damage in fronto-temporal, parietal, occipital and limbic areas and in basal ganglia in patients with moderate to severe PD ( Agosta et al, 2013a , Lewis et al, 2016 , Melzer et al, 2012 , Sterling et al, 2016 ), although some degree of structural GM alterations has been observed also in the early phase of the disease ( Agosta et al, 2013b , Fereshtehnejad et al, 2017 , Lewis et al, 2016 , Pereira et al, 2014 ). A recent review analyzed and resumed longitudinal structural MRI findings in PD patients ( Sarasso et al, 2020 ). Most consistent findings showed progressive cortical atrophy accumulation in basal ganglia, temporal/hippocampal, frontal and parietal areas in de novo PD cases and patients in the early/middle phase of the disease, with the achievement of a plateau in the later stage of the disease ( Lewis et al, 2016 , Melzer et al, 2015 , Mollenhauer et al, 2016 , Sampedro et al, 2019 , Sarasso et al, 2020 , Sterling et al, 2016 , Tessa et al, 2014 ).…”

“…A recent review analyzed and resumed longitudinal structural MRI findings in PD patients ( Sarasso et al, 2020 ). Most consistent findings showed progressive cortical atrophy accumulation in basal ganglia, temporal/hippocampal, frontal and parietal areas in de novo PD cases and patients in the early/middle phase of the disease, with the achievement of a plateau in the later stage of the disease ( Lewis et al, 2016 , Melzer et al, 2015 , Mollenhauer et al, 2016 , Sampedro et al, 2019 , Sarasso et al, 2020 , Sterling et al, 2016 , Tessa et al, 2014 ). Stratifying patients according to disease severity, findings are more controversial, although showing a progressive atrophy of basal ganglia over 1 year of follow-up and a widespread cortical thinning over 3–6 years in mild to moderate PD patients ( Campabadal et al, 2017 , Ibarretxe-Bilbao et al, 2012 , Nürnberger et al, 2017 , Sarasso et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Stratifying patients according to disease severity, findings are more controversial, although showing a progressive atrophy of basal ganglia over 1 year of follow-up and a widespread cortical thinning over 3–6 years in mild to moderate PD patients ( Campabadal et al, 2017 , Ibarretxe-Bilbao et al, 2012 , Nürnberger et al, 2017 , Sarasso et al, 2020 ). Different studies stratified patients according to cognitive impairment ( Camicioli et al, 2011 , Caspell-Garcia et al, 2017 , Compta et al, 2013 , Foo et al, 2017 , Garcia-Diaz et al, 2018 , Gee et al, 2017 , Hanganu et al, 2014 , Mak et al, 2017 , Mak et al, 2015 , Ramírez–Ruiz et al, 2005 ) but only few studies used prediction models showing that atrophy of the hippocampus, fronto-temporal areas, caudate, thalamus and accumbens might foresee mild cognitive impairment or dementia conversion in PD patients ( Foo et al, 2017 , Sarasso et al, 2020 , Zhou et al, 2020 ). The association between brain structural changes and the evolution of other non-motor manifestations has been less explored ( Baba et al, 2012 , Hanganu et al, 2014 , Ibarretxe-Bilbao et al, 2010 , Wee et al, 2016 ).…”

“…For instance, patients with more aggressive symptoms can have short disease duration and patients with long disease duration can present milder form of PD; patients with heterogeneous motor, non-motor and cognitive characteristics can present the same Hoehn and Yahr (HY) scoring; and the label “cognitive impairment” often covers a wide spectrum of cognitive features. An updated view upon the current knowledge suggests the necessity to stratify PD patients according to a combination of variables meaningful of patients’ characteristics and not according to one single feature or gross evaluation scale ( Sarasso et al, 2020 ). To the best of our knowledge, only one longitudinal clinical study by Fereshtehnejad and colleagues used a composite model that merged numerous clinical variables including motor and non-motor domains ( Fereshtehnejad et al, 2017 ).…”