The Characteristics Of Neuroimaging Analysis Of Transcranial Sonography Of Patients With Parkinson’s Disease And Patients With Alzheimer’s Disease

Objective:This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of transcranial sonographic neuroimaging of patients with Parkinson’s disease（PD）and patients with Alzheimer’s disease（AD）.Methods:Transcranial sonography（TCS）was performed between December 2014and September 2016 in 46 PD patients,38 AD patients and 60 normal control subjects.Sonographic alteration among the three groups were analyzed.Results:Fifteen subjects were excluded due to poor temporal window,and three subjects were excluded due to the inconsistent of results of sonologists.Totally,40 PD patients,34 AD patients and 52 controls were enrolled in this study.（1）The ratio of hyperechogenicity of substantia nigra（SN）in PD patients（82.5%,33/40）was higher than in AD patients（26.5%,9/34）and in controls（11.5%,6/52）,the area of larger SN hyperechogenicity in PD patients（0.45±0.16）cm² was larger than in AD patients（0.30±0.08）cm² and in controls（0.29±0.04）cm².However,no significant differences were found in the ratio of SN hyperechogenicity or the area of larger SN hyperechogenicity between AD patients and controls.There were no correlations between age,H&Y stage,UPDRS-III scores and the area of larger SN hyperechogenicity（r=0.125,P=0.503,r=0.044,P=0.815,r=0.274,P=0.136,respectively）.（2）The ratio of enlarged third ventricle（TV）of the three groups were as follows:PD patients:5%（2/40）,AD patients:17.6%（6/34）,controls:7.7%（4/52）,there were no significant differences among them（P=0.199）.The width of TV in AD patients（0.81±0.15）cm was larger than in PD patients（0.63±0.16）cm and in controls（0.60±0.15）cm,but there was no significant difference between PD patients and controls（P>0.05）.There was a positive correlation between age and the widths of TV in PD patients（r=0.407,P=0.009）and controls（r=0.342,P=0.013）rather than in AD patients（r=0.011,P=0.950）.（3）Compared with PD patients and controls,AD patients showed the significant decreased systolic velocity and diastolic velocity in bilateral middle cerebral artery,and AD patients also showed the significant increased pulsatility index and resistent index in bilateral middle cerebral artery.But there were no significant differences in parameters of bilateral middle cerebral artery between PD patients and controls.Conclusion:According to the ratio of SN hyperechogenicity,the area of larger SN hyperechogenicity,the widths of TV and flow parameters of middle cerebral artery,TCS may provide some useful image information for diagnosis of PD and AD.