- AI
- Molecular Imaging
- CT
- X-Ray
- Ultrasound
- MRI
- Facility Management
- Mammography
Ultrasound reliably diagnoses early-stage Parkinson’s disease
Transcranial ultrasound provides a differential diagnosis for parkinsonian syndromes before the disease progresses beyond the very first, nonspecific, clinical signs, according to a new study. Researchers conducting the study say this noninvasive and inexpensive test should become routine, as early diagnosis would allow for disease-specific treatment to start sooner.
Transcranial ultrasound provides a differential diagnosis for parkinsonian syndromes before the disease progresses beyond the very first, nonspecific, clinical signs, according to a new study. Researchers conducting the study say this noninvasive and inexpensive test should become routine, as early diagnosis would allow for disease-specific treatment to start sooner.
Earlier studies used transcranial ultrasound to look for increased echogenicity of the substantia nigra and thereby differentiate between idiopathic Parkinson's disease and atypical parkinsonian syndromes. However, these studies looked at advanced cases with known clinical diagnoses, while the new study focused on early cases.
Dr. Alexandra Gaenslen and colleagues at the Department of Neurodegeneration and Hertie Institute of Clinical Brain Research at the University of Tübingen in Germany, published their research in The Lancet Neurology, which made it available online April 2. They examined 60 patients presenting with early, unclear symptoms of parkinsonism. A baseline transcranial ultrasound exam was conducted, then the patients were tracked for a year to assess the clinical diagnosis. Raclopride PET or SPECT exams provided a diagnosis for those patients for whom clinical examination was not sufficient.
At the beginning of the study, 38 of the 60 patients could not be diagnosed by clinical examination. By the end of the study, 39 of the 60 patients were diagnosed as having idiopathic Parkinson's disease. Researchers were blinded to the exams and diagnoses until the final investigation. The baseline transcranial ultrasound exams turned out to have a sensitivity of 90.7% and a specificity of 82.4%, when compared with the end diagnosis, and a positive predictive value of 92.2%, with a classification accuracy of 88.3%.
The researchers concluded that transcranial ultrasound should be added as a routine test when clinicians are faced with diagnosing early parkinsonian syndromes, pointing out that it's inexpensive, noninvasive, and easy to implement.
The Reading Room: Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Cancer Screenings, and COVID-19
November 3rd 2020In this podcast episode, Dr. Shalom Kalnicki, from Montefiore and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, discusses the disparities minority patients face with cancer screenings and what can be done to increase access during the pandemic.
New Study Examines Agreement Between Radiologists and Referring Clinicians on Follow-Up Imaging
November 18th 2024Agreement on follow-up imaging was 41 percent more likely with recommendations by thoracic radiologists and 36 percent less likely on recommendations for follow-up nuclear imaging, according to new research.
Ultrasound Device Garners FDA De Novo Nod for Kidney Stone Clearance
November 14th 2024Emerging research demonstrated that the Stone Clear device, which facilitates post-lithotripsy clearance of kidney stone fragments, led to a 70 percent lower risk of relapse in comparison to observation in a control group.
