Neuromelanin Change in the Substantia nigra for Differentiating Multiple System Atrophy from Parkinson’s Disease

Motivation: Multiple system atrophy (MSA) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) are sharing many common clinical presentations. The clinical diagnosis has been empirical due to a lack of a subjective imaging biomarker. Goal(s): To investigate possible NM change in the SN and to better facilitate differential diagnosis. Approach: 38 MSA , 38 PD patients and 38 HCs were scanned on a 3T MRI system. We calculated the relative contrast ratio (rCR) and NM …