This study aimed to evaluate the effect of levodopa on cerebral arteries and gray matter cerebral blood flow (CBF) in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). We scanned 33 PD patients with “OFF” and “ON” levodopa using Simultaneous Non-Contrast Angiography and intraPlaque Hemorrhage (SNAP) MRA and Pseudo-Continuous Arterial Spin Labeling (PCASL), and used multiple statistical methods to analyze the data. Results from the statistical analysis show that after taking levodopa, patient’s treatment outcomes are highly correlated with his/her gray matter CBF. The results also suggest that levodopa can dilate cerebral arteries and improve CBF, but only in patients with mild symptoms.
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