Objective: To summarize the consistent GM volume changes in PD patients from whole brain VBM studies.

Background: Grey matter (GM) anomaly in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients remains unclear.

Method: We searched published medical literature to identify whole brain VBM studies involving both PD patients and healthy controls (HCs). Coordinates were extracted from the clusters of significant GM differences between PD patients and HCs. We performed a meta-analysis using the effect size-based signed differential mapping (ES-SDM). Mean analysis was conducted to detect regional GM volume differences between PD patients and HCs. And confounders were identified by meta-regression. We assessed study heterogeneity and publication bias through Funnel plots and Egger’s tests. Jackknife sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the robustness of the results.

Results: A total of 61 studies were included, with 2760 PD patients and 1922 HCs. Significant and consistent GM volume reduction were detected in a number of brain regions, including right temporal lobe, right rolandic operculum, right amygdale, right angular gyrus, right middle occipital gyrus, right fusiform gyrus, left anterior cingulated / paracingulate gyri, bilateral insula, and bilateral striatum. And GM volume changes were related to age, disease duration, Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale-Part III (UPDRSIII) score and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score. The findings remained largely unchanged in jackknife sensitivity analysis and no significant heterogeneity or publication bias was detected.

Conclusion: PD patients have GM volume reduction in a number of brain regions, which may be affected by age, disease duration, UPDRSIII, and MMSE score. These findings provide morphological evidence for the underlying pathology of PD.

« Back to 2019 International Congress

MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/gray-matter-abnormalities-in-parkinsons-disease-a-voxel-wise-meta-analysis/