Diffusion microstructure imaging in progressive supranuclear palsy: reduced axonal volumes in the superior cerebellar peduncles, dentato-rubro-thalamic tracts, ventromedial thalami, and frontomesial white matter

Differentiating between Parkinson's disease (PD) and atypical Parkinson syndromes such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), multiple system atrophy (MSA), and corticobasal degeneration is challenging. Diffusion microstructure imaging (DMI) was analyzed in patients with clinically suspected atypical Parkinson syndromes and healthy controls. In an exploration cohort, the spatial distribution of PSP-related changes of DMI parameters were evaluated in a voxel-wise analysis and a region-of-interest (ROI)-based approach was established. The diagnostic performance was subsequently tested in an independent validation cohort. In the exploration cohort, 53 PSP patients were compared to a pooled comparison group of 19 patients with PD, 26 patients with MSA, 7 patients with corticobasal syndrome, and 25 healthy controls. PSP patients showed widespread axonal loss in the superior cerebellar peduncles, the dentato-rubro-thalamic tracts, the thalami and the frontal white matter (each P < 0.001). In the validation cohort consisting of 12 patients with PSP vs. 13 patients with other movement disorders, the accuracy of this ROI-based approach for identifying the PSP was highest in the thalamus and the frontal white matter (accuracy 0.96 each). This DMI approach can identify PSP patients on an individual level in a collective with suspected atypical Parkinson syndromes and allows further insight on microstructural alterations in vivo.