Comparison of the cortical thickness and gray matter volume alterations in Multiple system atrophy and Parkinson’s disease

Motivation: Multiple system atrophy (MSA) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are two frequently misdiagnosed diseases. Goal(s): The study compared cortical thickness (CT) and gray matter volume (GMV) in MSA and PD, especially CT. Approach: 33 MSA, 51 PD and 30 health controls underwent clinical evaluation and 3.0T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to collect the high-resolution three-dimensional T1- weighted MRI images. Then CT and GMV features were generated from these MRI images using the Computational Anatomy Toolbox 12 (CAT12) software. Results: Our study revealed lower GMV of the basal ganglia and cerebellum in MSA than PD, and different patterns of cortical alterations between them. Impact: Our results enrich the knowledge of morphometric MRI difference in MSA and PD, might become potentially useful imaging biomarkers for differential diagnosis of MSA and PD, and demonstrate the potential use of routine MRI in performing their differential diagnosis.