2019 年 36 巻 4 号 p. 519-521
MRI and CT have been used to exclude other diseases with Parkinsonism in the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Recently, susceptibility–weighted imaging and neuromelanin imaging at static magnetic field of 3 Tesla or above have reportedly enabled direct detection of pathological changes in PD. With respect to nuclear medicine, metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy can document cardiac sympathetic denervation and dopamine transporter scintigraphy can demonstrate dysfunction of the nigrostriatal system in PD.
The combination of recent neuroimaging techniques, such as voxel–based morphometory (VBM), resting–state functional MRI (rs–MRI), diffusion tensor imaging and advanced network analysis methodology is expected to unveil the pathophysiology of various motor and non–motor symptoms observed in PD. For instance, VBM and rs–fMRI showed that impairment of the brain network consisted of several regions in the right parietal and temporal lobes are associated with frequent fall in PD (Otomune et al., 2019).
Knowing the features of each neuroimaging method and appropriately combining them, we can not only make early diagnosis of PD, but can also substantially interpret the underlying mechanism of various symptoms in PD.
