Intracranial Neuroimaging in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease and Depression by Transcranial Ultrasound

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to analyze the characteristics of transcranial ultrasonography (TCS) neuroimaging in patients with Parkinson’s disease complicated with depression (PD+D) and without depression (PD-D), and to explore the value of TCS in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of both diseases. From September 2010 to July 2016, 50 patients with PD+D and 50 patients with PD-D who were admitted to the dyskinesia clinic and neuropsychiatric depression in our hospital were selected as the research objects, and 50 healthy adults and 50 patients with depression were selected as the control objects. TCS examination was performed in each group, and the changes of TCS in substantia nigra (SN) and central nucleus (BR) were compared and analyzed. The results showed that the positive rates of SN in PD+D group and PD-D group were 80% and 86%, respectively, which were significantly higher than those in depression group and control group (8.0% and 10.0%, P < 0.01). The positive rates of BR in PD+D group and depression group were 78.0% and 82.0%, respectively, which were significantly higher than those in PD-D group (18.0%) and control group (10.0%), respectively (P < 0.01). To sum up, TCS, as an assistant examination method for Parkinson’s disease, is of clinical value in the diagnosis of PD+D and PD-D and their differential diagnosis by detecting the specific high echo of SN and abnormal BR echo in patients with Parkinson’s disease.