Background

Reduced flow into the brain or decreased jugular venous outflow from the brain may serve as a potential biomarker for Parkinson's disease (PD). Our goal was to compare the presence of vascular abnormalities, flow, and increases in midbrain iron content (a hallmark of the disease) in patients with PD.

Methods

A total of 85 PD patients and 85 healthy controls (HCs) were imaged at 3T. We assessed vascular abnormalities using magnetic resonance (MR) venography, average cerebral blood flow using 2D flow quantification, and substantia nigra iron content using susceptibility mapping. Susceptibility mapping was used to study iron content.

Results

Fifty-three (53%) of the PD subjects showed venous structural and functional abnormalities in the two most severe categories, while ony 14% of the HC group showed these abnormalities. Total arterial flow (tA) was significantly lower for the PD group (10.9 ± 1.8 ml/s) compared to the HCs (11.6 ± 2.1 ml/s) (t = 2.28, p = 0.02). Of the PD patients (HCs), 42% (14%) had little flow on the left side. PD patients had higher heart rates and lower perfusion and the lower perfusion correlated with increased iron content in the substantia nigra.

Conclusion

Some PD patients showed abnormal left internal jugular veins, lower tA, higher heart rates, and lower perfusion relative to HCs. These indicators could serve as early biomarkers for PD and create new avenues for future studies regarding the etiology of PD.

中文翻译：

---

帕金森氏病的血管，血流和灌注异常。

背景

流入大脑的流量减少或从大脑流出的颈静脉流量减少，可能会成为帕金森氏病（PD）的潜在生物标志物。我们的目标是比较PD患者中是否存在血管异常，血流和中脑铁含量的增加（该疾病的标志）。

方法

在3T时对总共85位PD患者和85位健康对照（HCs）进行了成像。我们使用磁共振（MR）静脉造影术评估了血管异常，使用2D流量量化评估了平均脑血流量，并使用药敏度图评估了黑质中铁的含量。磁化率图用于研究铁含量。

结果

在最严重的两个类别中，有53名（53％）的PD受试者表现出静脉结构和功能异常，而HC组中只有14％的表现出这些异常。与HCs（11.6±2.1 ml / s）相比，PD组的总动脉血流量（tA）明显较低（10.9±1.8 ml / s）（t = 2.28，p = 0.02）。在PD患者（HCs）中，有42％（14％）的左侧血流很少。PD患者的心率较高，灌注较低，而灌注较低与黑质中铁含量增加相关。

结论

一些PD患者相对于HCs表现出异常的左颈内静脉，较低的tA，较高的心律和较低的灌注。这些指标可以作为PD的早期生物标志物，并为PD的病因学研究提供新的途径。