Free-water Investigation In Parkinsonian Disorders Using Diffusion-weighted Imaging

Parkinson's disease(PD), multiple system atrophy(MSA), and progressive supranuclear palsy(PSP) are neurodegenerative disorders with parkinsonism as a central feature. Although MSA and PSP are atypical parkinsonian disorders, they may be difficult to differentiate from PD particularly in the early stages. Multiple studies have demonstrated that patients with Parkinsonian disorders have higher freewater(FW) in the substantia-nigra-pars-compacta(SNc) and basal ganglia(BG), and FW was shown to reliably distinguish between these patients, making it a potential biomarker. Our investigation into the alterations of FW in PD and atypical parkinsonian disorders, we attempt to evaluate the alterations of freewater in the SNc and basal ganglia structures.