Third ventricular width assessed by transcranial ultrasound correlates with cognitive performance in Parkinson's disease

Cognitive impairment and dementia are common in PD; however, no stable marker of cognitive dysfunction is available. Transcranial sonography can evaluate global and focal brain atrophy and has been widely used in the differential diagnosis of parkinsonism. 225 consecutive PD patients were recruited in a two-center cross sectional study and underwent a standardized sonographic protocol assessing the third ventricle's width and substantia nigra hyperechogenicity. All subjects were evaluated with an extensive motor and cognitive battery. 222 PD patients were included and classified as PD with normal cognition (PDNC; n = 130), mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI; n = 61) and dementia (PDD; n = 31). Ventricular width correlated strongly with cognitive performance in all cognitive domains (p