Erind Alushaj, Nicholas Handfield-Jones, Alan Kuurstra, Anisa Morava, Ravi S Menon, Adrian M Owen, Manas Sharma, Ali R Khan, Penny A MacDonald
Degeneration in the substantia nigra (SN) pars compacta (SNc) underlies motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). Currently, there are no neuroimaging biomarkers that are sufficiently sensitive, specific, reproducible, and accessible for routine diagnosis or staging of PD. Although iron is essential for cellular processes, it also mediates neurodegeneration. MRI can localize and quantify brain iron using magnetic susceptibility, which could potentially provide biomarkers of PD. We measured iron in the SNc, SN pars reticulata (SNr), total SN, and ventral tegmental area (VTA), using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and R2* relaxometry, in PD patients and age-matched healthy controls (HCs)...
2024: NeuroImage: Clinical