Objective: To determine the correlation of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) to motor, non-motor and cognitive scales in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Background: Increased IMT has been correlated with the phenotype and prognosis of PD¹, However, studies regarding its relationship to clinical rating scales have been inconsistent^2-4.

Method: Cross-sectional study. Patients with PD diagnosis underwent ultrasonographic IMT measurement by an experienced vascular neurologist in accordance with the Mannheim consensus ⁵, left and right common carotid artery (CCA) CIMT were measured and an average calculated. Clinical rating scales included the Hoehn & Yahr scale, MDS-UPDRS Part III, Montreal Cognitive Assesment (MoCA); Non-Motor Symptom Scale (NMSS), and PDQ8 (quality of life). Bivariate correlations were determined between CIMT measurements and clinical rating scales in the population as a whole and analyzing each gender by separate.

Results: 80 subjects were recruited (65% male with a mean age 63.7 years). Mean age at disease onset was 57.5±12.7 years, and disease duration had a median(range) of 5.5(19) years; all patients were receiving dopaminergic medication, with a levodopa equivalent daily dose of 781.6±468.9 mg per day. Mean CIMT was 0.700±0.194 mm. We found that IMT increased significantly with age in the whole sample (p<0.001) and in each gender when analyzed by separate (female p=0.032; male p=0.002). Left-CCA CIMT was negatively correlated with MoCA score (r=-0.23, p=0.044). We found no significant correlations between IMT and any of the clinical rating scales used; nor between IMT and PD-specific variables.

Conclusion: In PD, IMT has no correlation with standard clinical rating scales. Our results challenge the notion that IMT influences PD phenotype.

References: 1. Rektor I, Goldemund D, Bednarik P, et al. Impairment of brain vessels may contribute to mortality in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Mov Disord 2012;27(9):1169-1172. 2. Lee JM, Park KW, Seo WK, et al. Carotid intima-media thickness in Parkinson’s disease. Mov Disord 2007;22(16):2446-2449. 3. Rektor I, Goldemund D, Sheardova K, Rektorova I, Michalkova Z, Dufek M. Vascular pathology in patients with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2009;15(1):24-29. 4. Zambito Marsala S, Gioulis M, Pistacchi M, Lo Cascio C. Parkinson’s disease and cerebrovascular disease: is there a link? A neurosonological case-control study. Neurol Sci 2016;37(10):1707-1711. 5. Touboul PJ, Hennerici MG, Meairs S, et al. Mannheim carotid intima-media thickness and plaque consensus (2004-2006-2011). An update on behalf of the advisory board of the 3rd, 4th and 5th watching the risk symposia, at the 13th, 15th and 20th European Stroke Conferences, Mannheim, Germany, 2004, Brussels, Belgium, 2006, and Hamburg, Germany, 2011. Cerebrovasc Dis 2012;34(4):290-296.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/motor-non-motor-and-cognitive-correlates-of-carotid-intima-media-thickness-in-patients-with-parkinsons-disease/