Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Dec;29(14):1774-80.
doi: 10.1002/mds.26055. Epub 2014 Nov 10.

Five-year follow-up of substantia nigra echogenicity in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder

Alex Iranzo  1 , Heike Stockner, Mónica Serradell, Klaus Seppi, Francesc Valldeoriola, Birgit Frauscher, José Luis Molinuevo, Isabel Vilaseca, Thomas Mitterling, Carles Gaig, Dolores Vilas, Joan Santamaria, Birgit Högl, Eduard Tolosa, Werner Poewe
Affiliations

Five-year follow-up of substantia nigra echogenicity in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder

Alex Iranzo et al. Mov Disord. 2014 Dec.

Abstract

Hyperechogenicity of the substantia nigra visualized by transcranial sonography occurs in most Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Idiopathic rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (IRBD) subjects eventually develop PD and other synucleinopathies. This study was undertaken to evaluate whether in IRBD, transcranial sonography identifies subjects who convert to PD and other synucleinopathies, and whether substantia nigra echogenic size changes with time. It was a prospective study in which 55 IRBD patients underwent transcranial sonography at baseline and were invited to follow-up after 5 years. Patients were assessed by the same experienced sonographer who was blinded to clinical data and baseline transcranial sonography results, and used the same equipment and adjustments. Twenty-one (38.2%) subjects were diagnosed with a synucleinopathy (PD in 11, dementia with Lewy bodies in nine, and multiple system atrophy in one). Sensitivity of baseline substantia nigra hyperechogenicity for the development of a synucleinopathy was 42.1%, specificity 67.7%, positive predictive value 44.4%, negative predictive value 65.6%, and relative risk 1.29. No differences were detected between the first and second examination in mean size of the substantia nigra (0.20 ± 0.09 cm(2) vs. 0.19 ± 0.07 cm(2) ; P = 0.777) and in percentage of patients with substantia nigra hyperechogenicity (33.3% vs. 42.8%, P = 0.125). Transcranial sonography of the substantia nigra alone is not a useful tool to identify IRBD subjects at risk for the development of PD or a synucleinopathy after 5 years of follow-up. In IRBD, transcranial sonography cannot be used to monitor the degenerative process in the substantia nigra, because echogenicity size remains stable over time.

Keywords: Parkinson's disease; REM sleep behavior disorder; follow-up; substantia nigra echogenicity; transcranial sonography.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

LinkOut - more resources