Evaluation of Parkinson Disease and Alzheimer Disease with the Use of Neuromelanin MR Imaging and 123I-Metaiodobenzylguanidine Scintigraphy

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Fig 1.
Findings of neuromelanin MRI and ¹²³I-metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigrams of patients and control subjects. A, NmMRI: Signals are reduced in NmMRI of substantia nigra pars compacta and locus ceruleus according to Parkinson disease stage. B, MIBG scintigraphy: MIBG scintigrams show PD stage-dependent cardiac MIBG reduction.
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Fig 2.
Box-and-whisker plots of signal intensity ratios on neuromelanin MRI and heart-to-mediastinum count ratios on ¹²³I-metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigrams in patients with Parkinson disease, patients with Alzheimer disease, and control subjects. Horizontal bars in boxes show median values. A, Lateral substantia nigra pars compacta; B, medial SNc; C, locus ceruleus; D, MIBG. *P < .05.
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Fig 3.
Correlation between signal intensity ratio in medial substantia nigra pars compacta on neuromelanin MRI image and heart-to-mediastinum count ratio on ¹²³I-metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigram. ρ = 0.3984.

Table 1:

Clinical characteristics of patient and control groups

	Early Parkinson Disease	Late Parkinson Disease	Alzheimer Disease	Control
Patients, n	13	31	6	20
Hoehn and Yahr stage	I:3, II:10	III:16, IV:12, V:3	/	/
Male/female	5/8	14/17	3/3	5/15
Age, y, mean ± SD	68.3 ± 5.88	71.8 ± 8.95	75.7 ± 9.52	74.8 ± 5.41
Duration, y, mean ± SD	4.30 ± 5.37	9.48 ± 6.86	2.5 ± 3	/
Hasegawa Dementia Scale-Revised, mean ± SD	/	/	12.8 ± 4.76	/

Note:—Age does not differ between patient and control groups (P = .082; 1-way analysis of variance).

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Table 2:
Correlation between signal intensity ratio in medial SNc on NmMRI and heart-to-mediastinum count ratio on MIBG scintigraphy
Spearman Coefficient Rate (ρ) Lateral SNc Medial SNc LC
Heart-to-mediastinum count ratio 0.358 0.398 NS