Neuroimaging Assessment of Nigrosome 1 with a Multiecho Gre Magnetic Resonance Sequence in the Differentiation Between Parkinsons Disease from Essential Tremor and Healthy Individuals

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Parkinsonism is commonly seen in many clinical conditions, and the establishment of its etiology may take many years. The possible development of neuroprotective treatments for Parkinsons disease (PD) in the near future will require correct and early diagnosis. This study aims to analyze the accuracy of a low-cost MRI sequence to differentiate PD from patients with essential tremor (ET) and healthy control (HC) individuals. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We recruited 70 individuals with clinical diagnoses of PD (38 patients), ET (11 patients) and healthy volunteers (21 individuals), all of whom underwent 3T MRI multiecho GRE sequence. Two blinded neuroradiologists independently evaluated the presence or absence of nigrosome-1(N1). We considered the unilateral or bilateral absence of nigrosome 1 signal as indicative of PD. RESULTS: The absence of at least one N1 could differentiate with 98% accuracy patients with clinical established PD from healthy controls. The presence of both nigrosomes was 96% accurate as a sign to differentiate PD from ET patients. CONCLUSION: The 3T MRI with multiecho GRE is a simple and universally available technique and it can be used as a good auxiliary tool to differentiate PD from ET patients and controls.