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Background Idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by clinical motor symptoms including hypokinesia, rigidity and tremor. In addition to the movement disorder, cognitive deficits are commonly described. In the present study, we applied FP‐CIT SPECT to investigate the impact of nigrostriatal dopaminergic degeneration on cognitive function in PD patients. Methods Fifty‐four PD patients underwent [123I]FP‐CIT SPECT and CERAD (Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease) testing. FP‐CIT SPECT visualized the density of presynaptic dopamine transporters in both striata, each subdivided into a limbic, executive and sensorimotor subregion according to the atlas of Tziortzi et al (Cereb Cortex 24, 2014, 1165). CERAD testing quantified cognitive function. Results In the CERAD testing, PD patients exhibited deficits in the domains of semantic memory, attention, visuospatial function, non‐verbal memory and executive function. After correction for multiple testing, the performance of the subtests Figure Recall and Trail‐Making Test A correlated significantly with FP‐CIT uptake into the ipsilateral executive subregion. The performance of the subtest Figure Saving correlated significantly with FP‐CIT uptake into the contralateral executive subregion. Conclusions The significant correlation between cognitive function and density of nigrostriatal dopamine transporters, as assessed by FP‐CIT SPECT, indicate that striatal dopaminergic pathways—primarily the executive striatal subregion—are relevant to cognitive processing in PD.

Background and Purpose:The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in measuring the optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) compared to the established method transorbital sonography (TOS) in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH).Methods: Twenty-three patients with IIH were prospectively included applying IIH diagnostic criteria. All patients received a lumbar puncture with assessment of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) opening pressure to assure the IIH diagnosis. Measurement of ONSD was performed 3 mm posterior to inner sclera surface in B-TOS by an expert examiner, while three independent neuroradiologists took measurements in axial T-weighted MRI examinations. The sella turcica with the pituitary gland (and potential presence of an empty sella) and the trigeminal cavity were also assessed on sagittal and transversal T1-weighted MRI images by one independent neuroradiologist. Results:The means of ONSD between ultrasound and MRI measurements were 6.3 mm (standard deviation [SD] = 0.6 mm) and 6.2 mm (SD = 0.8 mm). The interrater reliability between three neuroradiologists showed a high interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) (confidence interval: .573 < ICC < .8; p < .001). In patients with an empty sella, the ONSD evaluated by MRI was 6.6 mm, while measuring 6.1 mm in patients without empty sella.No correlation between CSF opening pressure and ONSD was found.Conclusions: MRI can reliably measure ONSD and yields similar results compared to TOS in patients with IIH. Moreover, patients with empty sella showed significantly larger ONSD than patients without empty sella.

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