AUTHOR=Pelz Johann Otto , Belau Elena , Fricke Christopher , Classen Joseph , Weise David 

TITLE=Axonal Degeneration of the Vagus Nerve in Parkinson's Disease—A High-Resolution Ultrasound Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2018.00951

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2018.00951

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Recent histopathological studies revealed degeneration of the dorsal motor nucleus early in the course of Parkinson's disease (PD). Degeneration of the vagus nerve (VN) axons following neurodegeneration of brainstem vagal nuclei should be detectable by high-resolution ultrasound (HRUS) as a thinning of the VNs.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> We measured both VNs cross-sectional area (VN-CSA) of 35 patients with PD and 35 age- and sex-matched healthy controls at the level of the thyroid gland using HRUS.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> On both sides, the VN-CSA was significantly smaller in PD patients than in controls (right: 2.1 ± 0.4 vs. 2.3 ± 0.5 mm2, left 1.5 ± 0.4 vs. 1.8 ± 0.4 mm2; both <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). There was no correlation between the right or left VN-CSA and age, the Hoehn &amp; Yahr stage, disease duration, the motor part of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale score, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment score, or the Non-motor Symptoms Questionnaire, and Scale for Parkinson's disease score including its gastrointestinal domain.</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> These findings provide evidencethat atrophy of the VNs in PD patients can be detected <italic>in-vivo</italic> by HRUS.</p>