Ventral posterior substantia nigra iron increases over 3 years in Parkinson's disease

Background Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized in part by the progressive accumulation of iron within the substantia nigra (SN); however, its spatial and temporal dynamics remain relatively poorly understood. Objectives The objective of this study was to investigate spatial patterns and temporal evolution of SN iron accumulation in PD. Methods A total of 18 PD patients (mean disease duration = 6.2 years) receiving dopaminergic therapy and 16 healthy controls were scanned with 3T MRI at baseline and 3 years later using quantitative susceptibility mapping, an indirect marker of iron content. Iron was assessed separately in the posterior SN and anterior SN at the ventral and dorsal levels of the SN. The results were corrected for the false discovery rate. Results A significant group effect was found for the ventral posterior SN (P