Thalamic proton MR spectroscopy distinguishes tremor-dominant PD from ET with resting tremor

Introduction: The objective of this study was to investigate the thalamic biochemical changes in tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease (tPD) patients in comparison with essential tremor with resting tremor (rET) patients, by using proton MR spectroscopy (1H-MRS). Methods: Fourteen tPD patients, 12 rET patients and 10 controls participated in this study. All patients underwent dopamine transporter single-photon emission computed tomography (DAT-SPECT) with 123I-ioflupane, and a short-echo single-voxel 1H-MRS on a 3T scanner. A voxel of 10 × 15 × 10 mm involving the Vim nucleus was acquired in both thalami of all subjects. Peak areas of N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), creatine (Cr), glycerophosphocholine (Cho), and glutamate (Glu) were measured for each voxel using LCModel. The NAA/Cr, Cho/Cr, and Glu/Cr ratios were then calculated. Results: DAT-SPECT was abnormal in tPD patients, whereas it was normal in rET patients. Patients with tPD showed a significant reduction of NAA/Cr and Cho/Cr in the thalami compared to rET and healthy controls; whereas there were no significant differences between rET patients and controls. The combination of thalamic NAA/Cr and Cho/Cr ratios showed a 100% accuracy in distinguishing tPD patients from rET patients and controls. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence that thalamic neurometabolic abnormalities occur in tremor-dominant phenotype of PD, and suggests that 1H-MRS can help differentiate patients with tPD from those with rET.