Application Of Transcranial Sonography In Diagnosis And Evaluation Of Parkinson's Disease

Objective:1.To investigate the changes of the echo of substantia nigra(SN)in transcranial sonography(TCS)in patients with Parkinson's disease(PD).2.To explore the correlation between the changes of the echo of substanita nigra and the factors of age,gender,onset age,disease duration,clinical feature and disease severity of patients with PD.3.To make a preliminary evaluation of transcrianial sonography in the diagnosis of PD.Methods:1.75 patients with PD and 56 normal controls were selected to collect the relevant data of the subjects,including gender,age,onset age,disease duration,smoking history,drinking history,and clinical features.Meanwhile,all patients with PD were assessed with the following scales:the Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE),Hamilton Anxiety Scale 14 item version(HAMA),Hamilton Depression Scale 24 item version(HAMD),Hoehn&Yahr stage(H-Y stage),the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale(UPDRS).2.The subjects were examined by TCS,and the area of midbrain and echo intensity of the substantia nigra were measured.Those with SN hyperechogenicity should also have their area measured,and the differences of echoes from substantia nigra between PD patients and normal controls were compared.3.The patients with PD were divided into two groups:those with echo intensity of substantia nigra ? grade ? and its area ? 0.2cm2 were defined as hyperechogenicity group,otherwise normal echo group.The differences between the general and clinical characteristics of the two groups were compared.Results:1.70%(42/60)of PD patients had SN hyperechogenicity,while only 2.33%(1/43)of normal control group had.The difference between the two groups was statistically significant(P<0.05).2.The differences in onset age and disease duration between the hyperechogenicity group and normal echo group in PD patients were significant(P<0.05),in which the onset age was younger and the disease duration was longer in the hyperechogenicity group.3.There were no significant differences in age,gender,onset form,smoking history,drinking history,MMSE score,HAMD score,HAMA score,UPDRS score ?-? part and H-Y stage between hyperechogenicity group and normal echo group(P>0.05).Conclusion:1.SN hyperechogenicity is a highly specific pathological phenomenon,which is common in PD patients(70%).2.SN hyperechogenicity is related to the onset age and disease duration of PD patients who with younger onset age and longer disease duration are more common in hyperechogenicity group,but not related to age,gender,disease severity and clinical symptoms.3.TCS is an effective tool for PD diagnosis,and SN hyperechogenicity can be used as an effective index to assist PD diagnosis.