Regional cerebral blood flow changes in Parkinson's disease: correlation with disease duration

Abstract

IntroductionChanges in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) have been reported in idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Nonetheless, their typical pattern still remains controversial regarding some features, such as basal ganglia involvement and the main cortical regions affected. Functional neuroimaging makes it possible to identify the brain dysfunctions of the neural circuits underlying the disease. Voxel-based analysis methods make it possible to increase the reliability of the results. ObjectiveTo assess the rCBF changes in patients with PD and their relation with disease duration. Materials and methodsThirty PD adult patients without dementia underwent evaluation with 99mTc-ECD SPECT. SPM5 was used for statistical comparison with 25 normal controls of similar ages. The disease course duration in years was added as a covariate. Additionally, patients with a 6-year evolution or less and those with more than 6 years were compared separately with normal controls. ResultsSignificant hypoperfusion was detected in bilateral premotor and posterior parietal cortex and increase of perfusion was present in the cerebellum. These changes correlated with the years of evolution of the illness. Patients with longer evolution also presented thalamic, subthalamic and basal ganglia hypoperfusion. ConclusionsWe describe rCBF changes in PD in neural circuits related with control of movements. These changes are more manifest in patients with a longer duration of the disease.