Quantitative research on FA value of substantia nigra pars compacta in early Parkinson′s disease

Objective:To observe the characteristic changes of FA value of substantia nigra pars compacta in early Parkinson′s disease using 1.5T MR scanner.Methods:20patients with early Parkinson′s disease and 28cases of gender and age-matched normal volunteers had MR scanning with T2WI sequence and DTI.Taking T2WI as reference,hand-sketched region of interest(ROI)including head,body,tail as well as internal and external areas in substantia nigra were done,their FA values were measured.Statistical analysis was calculated.Results:FA values of substantia nigra pars compacta decreased significantly in early Parkinson′s disease;The FA values of the head,body,tail of substantia nigra pars compacta were lower than those of the normal control group significantly,with the head as the most obvious,which was 0.201±0.030and 0.254±0.050respectively,P0.05.When FA value of the head of substantia nigra pars compacta was less than 0.224, Parkinson′s disease should be highly suspected.Conclusion:Lowering of FA values of the head of substantia nigra pars compacta shows a certain value in the early diagnosis of Parkinson′s disease.