MRI of the Swallow Tail Sign: A Useful Marker in the Diagnosis of Lewy Body Dementia?

ABSTRACT:

Background and purpose

There are, to date, no MR imaging diagnostic markers for Lewy body dementia. Nigrosome 1, containing dopaminergic cells, in the substantia nigra pars compacta is hyperintense on SWI and has been called the swallow tail sign, disappearing with Parkinson disease. We aimed to study the swallow tail sign and its clinical applicability in Lewy body dementia and hypothesized that the sign would be likewise applicable in Lewy body dementia.

Materials and methods

This was a retrospective cross-sectional multicenter study including 97 patients (mean age, 65 ± 10 years; 46% women), consisting of the following: controls (n = 21) and those with Lewy body dementia (n = 19), Alzheimer disease (n = 20), frontotemporal lobe dementia (n = 20

SUBMITTER: Shams S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7963704 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature