Histogram analysis of diffusion kurtosis imaging of deep brain nuclei in Parkinson's disease with different motor subtypes

Parkinson's disease (PD) has significant clinical heterogeneity. According to its motor symptoms, PD could be divided into two principal clinical subtypes: tremor-dominant (TD) and postural instability and gait disorder (PIGD). Identifying clinical subtypes of PD could serve to better understand the underlying disease mechanisms, predict progression, and guide treatment. In this study, diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) combined with histogram analysis were used to evaluate the microstructural changes of the deep brain gray matter nuclei in PD patients. And it demonstrated that DKI histogram analysis was useful to diagnose and discriminate different motor subtypes of PD.