Differential diagnosis of parkinsonian degenerative disorders in combination manual measurements with automated volumetry of the brain

Abstract Background: To compare brain morphological differences in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), multiple system atrophy with the parkinsonian variant (MSA-P), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and controls by manual and automated measurements and to explore the feasibility of these measurements in disease differentiation.Methods: Ninety-five PSP patients (48 males, mean age 67.9 y), 32 MSA-P patients (18 males, mean age 63.0 y), 136 PD patients (72 males, mean age 66.6 y) and 100 controls (50 males, mean age 66 y) were included. The 12 manual measurements were acquired. Relative brain structural volumes adjusted according to the intracranial volume (ICV) of different brain regions werealsoquantified. Differences among and between groups were evaluated. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to assess diagnostic performance and define cutoff values of these measures.Results: P/M area 2.0displayed the highest diagnostic performance (AUC: 0.801) for distinguishing PSP from MSA-P or PD (sensitivity69.5%, specificity 82.1%). Furthermore, the combination of morphological features in manual parameters (P/M area 2.0, MRPI and M/P diameter) and volume atrophy in the midbrain improved the PSP discrimination (AUC: 0.870, sensitivity 76.8%, specificity 83.9%). The relative volume of the putamen can better differentiate MSA-P from PSP and PD (AUC: 0.844, sensitivity 81.3%, specificity 75.3%). Similarly, the ability to differentially diagnose MSA-P increased most significantly (AUC: 0.927, sensitivity 87.5%, specificity 87.9%) when combing volume atrophy in the putamen with the caudate and manual parameter (M/P diameter).Conclusion: Manual and automated MR variables can reveal atrophy features of the brain and be helpful in the differential diagnosis.