Applications of the European Parkinson's Disease Association sponsored Parkinson's Disease Composite Scale (PDCS)

Utility of diffusion tensor imaging and generalized q-sampling imaging for predicting short-term clinical effect of deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease

PURPOSE

To assess whether diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and generalized q-sampling imaging (GQI) metrics could preoperatively predict the clinical outcome of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).

METHODS

In this single-center retrospective study, from September 2021 to March 2023, preoperative DTI and GQI examinations of 44 patients who underwent DBS surgery, were analyzed. To evaluate motor functions, the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) during on- and off-medication and Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39) scales were used before and three months after DBS surgery. The study population was divided into two groups according to the improvement rate of scales: ≥ 50% and < 50%. Five target regions, reported to be affected in PD, were investigated. The parameters having statistically significant difference were subjected to a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

RESULTS

Quantitative anisotropy (qa) values from globus pallidus externus, globus pallidus internus (qa_Gpi), and substantia nigra exhibited significant distributional difference between groups in terms of the improvement rate of UPDRS-3 scale during on-medication (p = 0.003, p = 0.0003, and p = 0.0008, respectively). In ROC analysis, the best parameter in predicting DBS response included qa_Gpi with a cut-off value of 0.01370 achieved an area under the ROC curve, accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 0.810, 73%, 62.5%, and 85%, respectively. Optimal cut-off values of ≥ 0.01864 and ≤ 0.01162 yielded a sensitivity and specificity of 100%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The imaging parameters acquired from GQI, particularly qa_Gpi, may have the ability to non-invasively predict the clinical outcome of DBS surgery.

Fading of brain network fingerprint in Parkinson's disease predicts motor clinical impairment

The clinical connectome fingerprint (CCF) was recently introduced as a way to assess brain dynamics. It is an approach able to recognize individuals, based on the brain network. It showed its applicability providing network features used to predict the cognitive decline in preclinical Alzheimer's disease. In this article, we explore the performance of CCF in 47 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and 47 healthy controls, under the hypothesis that patients would show reduced identifiability as compared to controls, and that such reduction could be used to predict motor impairment. We used source-reconstructed magnetoencephalography signals to build two functional connectomes for 47 patients with PD and 47 healthy controls. Then, exploiting the two connectomes per individual, we investigated the identifiability characteristics of each subject in each group. We observed reduced identifiability in patients compared to healthy individuals in the beta band. Furthermore, we found that the reduction in identifiability was proportional to the motor impairment, assessed through the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, and, interestingly, able to predict it (at the subject level), through a cross-validated regression model. Along with previous evidence, this article shows that CCF captures disrupted dynamics in neurodegenerative diseases and is particularly effective in predicting motor clinical impairment in PD.

Can detection and prediction models for Alzheimer's Disease be applied to Prodromal Parkinson's Disease using explainable artificial intelligence? A brief report on Digital Neuro Signatures

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the fastest growing neurodegeneration and has a prediagnostic phase with a lot of challenges to identify clinical and laboratory biomarkers for those in the earliest stages or those 'at risk'. Despite the current research effort, further progress in this field hinges on the more effective application of digital biomarker and artificial intelligence applications at the prediagnostic stages of PD. It is of the highest importance to stratify such prediagnostic subjects that seem to have the most neuroprotective benefit from drugs. However, current initiatives to identify individuals at risk or in the earliest stages that might be candidates for future clinical trials are still challenging due to the limited accuracy and explainability of existing prediagnostic detection and progression prediction solutions. In this brief paper, we report on a novel digital neuro signature (DNS) for prodromal-PD based on selected digital biomarkers previously discovered on preclinical Alzheimer's disease. (AD). Our preliminary results demonstrated a standard DNS signature for both preclinical AD and prodromal PD, containing a ranked selection of features. This novel DNS signature was rapidly repurposed out of 793 digital biomarker features and selected the top 20 digital biomarkers that are predictive and could detect both the biological signature of preclinical AD and the biological mechanism of a-synucleinopathy in prodromal PD. The resulting model can provide physicians with a pool of patients potentially eligible for therapy and comes along with information about the importance of the digital biomarkers that are predictive, based on SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP). Similar initiatives could clarify the stage before and around diagnosis, enabling the field to push into unchartered territory at the earliest stages of the disease.

Parkinson's Disease in Romania: A Scoping Review

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a significant cause of disability, with a fast-growing prevalence. This review summarizes the epidemiological and clinical data, research on the diagnostic approaches and the interventions available in the Eastern European country of Romania. This scoping review follows the recommendations on the scoping review methodology by Joanna Briggs Institute. We searched four databases (up to 27 January 2021). The data of eligible studies were extracted in standardized forms. We identified 149 unique studies from 1133 records, with 11 epidemiological studies, 52 studies investigating clinical aspects of PD, 35 studies on diagnostic tools, and 51 intervention studies. A narrative synthesis is provided and placed in a historical context. Our review revealed a considerable increase in the Romanian research on PD in the latest 15 years, which largely follows international trends. However, we also identified several research gaps that provide useful information for policymakers, public health specialists, and clinicians.