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For Your Patients-Parkinsonʼs Disease Changes

Retinal thinning, which is present in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease (PD), may be associated with dopamine loss in the left substantia nigral area of the midbrain, according to a paper published online August 15 in Neurology. In addition, retinal imaging may be useful to detect pathologic changes occurring in the early stages of PD, the study authors said. “We were surprised to find significant relationships between retinal thinning and dopamine transporter loss. We also discovered that the retinal thinning occurred in the neuronal type of cell layers of the retina, in particular the inner plexiform and ganglion cell layers,” principal investigator Jee-Young Lee, MD, PhD, associate professor of neurology at Seoul Metropolitan Government-Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, South Korea, told Neurology Today. Although numerous studies have consistently reported retinal thinning in patients with PD, Dr. Lee cautioned that more research is needed before retinal thinning can be used as a biomarker. “We need a longitudinal study to confirm the relationship between retinal thinning and dopamine loss as the disease progresses.” The study was supported by the Seoul Metropolitan Government Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center and the National Research Foundation funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology in Korea.