Dopaminergic neurodegeneration of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) in Parkinson's disease (PD) was evaluated quantitatively using both neuromelanin and diffusion tensor imaging. For the highly reproducible image analysis of the SNpc, an automatic region-of-interest selection method was developed with a voxel-based morphometric technique. Neuromelanin which can directly quantify dopaminergic neurodegeneration and mean diffusivity could differentiate PD patients from healthy controls and were correlated with each other. We conclude that a voxel-based evaluation using both neuromelanin and diffusion tensor imaging can reveal PD related neurodegenerative changes in the SNpc and may be a useful technique for quantitative diagnosis of PD.
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