Abstract
Few studies have evaluated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) visual scales in Parkinson's disease-Mild Cognitive Impairment (PD-MCI). We selected 79 PD patients and 92 controls (CO) to perform neurologic and neuropsychological evaluation. Brain MRI was performed to evaluate the following scales: Global Cortical Atrophy (GCA), Fazekas, and medial temporal atrophy (MTA). The analysis revealed that both PD groups (amnestic and nonamnestic) showed worse performance on several tests when compared to CO. Memory, executive function, and attention impairment were more severe in amnestic PD-MCI group. Overall analysis of frequency of MRI visual scales by MCI subtype did not reveal any statistically significant result. Statistically significant inverse correlation was observed between GCA scale and Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), semantic verbal fluency, Stroop test, figure memory test, trail making test (TMT) B, and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). The MTA scale correlated with Stroop test and Fazekas scale with figure memory test, digit span, and Stroop test according to the subgroup evaluated. Visual scales by MRI in MCI should be evaluated by cognitive domain and might be more useful in more severely impaired MCI or dementia patients.
Highlights
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by motor and nonmotor features
We evaluated in the present study if these structural changes detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could be related to MCI subtype and its frequency in PD patients comparing with control group (CO)
The sample was homogeneous on most of demographic data (Table 1) as no significant differences were observed between amnestic × nonamnestic groups of PD and CO for age, education level, Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)
Summary
Cognitive impairment results in significant morbidity and mortality; early diagnosis is essential for appropriate treatment and subsequent reduction of the disease burden [1]. Some variables related to increased risk of cognitive decline have been suggested, such as rigid-akinetic phenotype, aging, female gender, anticholinergic use, and mild cognitive impairment [2]. MCI can be classified, according to the main area of impairment, as amnestic (memory primarily affected) or nonamnestic (other cognitive function). These differences are beyond the main cognitive domain as well prognosis (higher risk for conversion to dementia) [3, 4]
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