The Neurology Center, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100700, China.
Beijing Hospital, Beijing, 100730, China.
Neurol Sci. 2020 Mar;41(3):661-667. doi: 10.1007/s10072-019-04110-z. Epub 2019 Nov 22.
As a noninvasive technique, transcranial sonography (TCS) of substantia nigra (SN) has gradually showed its effectiveness not only in diagnosis but also in understanding clinical features of Parkinson's Disease (PD). This study aimed to further evaluate TCS for clinical diagnosis of PD, and to explore the association between sonographic manifestations and visual hallucinations (VH). A total of 226 subjects including 141 PD patients and 85 controls were recruited. All participants received TCS. A series of rating scales to evaluate motor and non-motor symptoms were performed in PD patients. Results showed that 172 subjects were successfully assessed by TCS. The area of SN was greater in PD patients than that in controls (P < 0.001). As receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed, the best cutoff value for the larger SN echogenicity size was 23.5 mm (sensitivity 70.3%, specificity 77.0%). Patients with VH had larger SN area (P = 0.019), as well as higher Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS) scores (P = 0.018). Moreover, binary logistic regression analysis indicated that SN hyperechogenicity (odds ratio = 4.227, P = 0.012) and NMSS scores (odds ratio = 0.027, P = 0.042) could be the independent predictors for VH. In conclusion, TCS can be used as an auxiliary diagnostic tool for Parkinson's disease. Increased SN echogenicity is correlated with VH in Parkinson's disease, possibly because the brain stem is involved in the mechanism in the onset of VH. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings.
作为一种非侵入性技术,经颅超声(TCS)检测黑质(SN)不仅在诊断方面显示出有效性,而且在了解帕金森病(PD)的临床特征方面也显示出有效性。本研究旨在进一步评估 TCS 在 PD 临床诊断中的应用,并探讨超声表现与视幻觉(VH)之间的关系。共纳入 226 名受试者,包括 141 名 PD 患者和 85 名对照者。所有参与者均接受 TCS 检查。对 PD 患者进行了一系列评估运动和非运动症状的量表评估。结果显示,172 名受试者成功接受了 TCS 评估。PD 患者的 SN 面积大于对照组(P<0.001)。ROC 曲线分析显示,SN 回声强度较大的最佳截断值为 23.5mm(敏感性 70.3%,特异性 77.0%)。有 VH 的患者 SN 面积更大(P=0.019),非运动症状量表(NMSS)评分也更高(P=0.018)。此外,二元逻辑回归分析表明,SN 高回声(比值比=4.227,P=0.012)和 NMSS 评分(比值比=0.027,P=0.042)可能是 VH 的独立预测因子。总之,TCS 可作为帕金森病的辅助诊断工具。SN 回声增强与帕金森病中的 VH 相关,可能是因为脑干参与了 VH 发病机制。需要进一步的研究来证实这些发现。