engleski

Transcranial sonography (TCS) in the diagnosis of essential tremor and Parkinson’ s disease

Background and aims: Clinical examination of well-established symptoms is still the most accurate way to diagnose Parkinson&#8217; s disease (PD) and essential tremor (ET). However, the misdiagnosis rates for PD and ET in the early stages is as high as 20&#8211; 30% in PD and about 30% in ET. The aim of this study is to assess the usefulness of transcranial sonography (TCS) in the evaluation of patients with ET and PD. Methods: Our study was performed on 190 individuals, including 30 patients with ET, 80 PD patients, and 80 matched controls. TCS was applied by standardized protocol: SN was displayed, encircled, and measured twice. Mean area was calculated. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used for statistical inter-group comparison. Results: In the control group and PD group, bilateral combined mean SN size was 0.17 cm2 (&plusmn ; 0.07) and 0.27 cm2 (&plusmn ; 0.06), with statistically significant difference (p<0.001). The mean SN size in patients with ET was 0.15 cm2 (&plusmn ; 0.04), (for the right side 0.15 cm2 (&plusmn ; 0.04) and 0.16 cm2 (&plusmn ; 0.05) for the left side), which was significantly different from PD group (p<0.001), but not from the control group (p=0.240). Conclusions: Specific finding of SN hyperechogenicity in PD can help to distinguish ET from PD in doubtful clinical cases or in the early stages of the disease when symptoms might overlap. TCS is a practical and valuable neuroimaging tool in diagnosis of ET and PD.

transcranial sonography; TCS; movement disorder; Parkinson's disease; essential tremor

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