Subclinical neurological involvement in Behçet's disease.

CONTEXT: Behçet's disease (BD) is a multisystem inflammatory disorder with unknown etiology characterized by recurrent oral and genital aphthous ulcers and uveitis. Behçet's disease can affect the central nervous system. AIMS: We aimed to investigate subclinical neurological involvement in patients who were suffering from BD and who had no neurological symptoms. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A total of 49 patients were included in the study. For the investigation of subclinical neurological involvement, the patients received imaging and/or neurophysiologic evaluations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The evaluation techniques were as follows: single photon emission computed tomography, 33 patients; cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 25 patients; brainstem auditory evoked potential examination, 36 patients; and electroencephalography (EEG), 30 patients. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon Rank-Sum W test were used. RESULTS: Patients in the MRI and EEG groups showed significantly more abnormalities than did age- and gender-matched controls. CONCLUSIONS: Early diagnosis of neurological involvement in BD is important in reducing or preventing complications. Cranial MRI and EEG were found to be useful for detecting subclinical neurological abnormalities in patients with Behçet's disease.

T2-weighted MRI in Parkinson's disease; substantia nigra pars compacta hypointensity correlates with the clinical scores.

BACKGROUND: Iron accumulation in substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and related intensity and volumetric changes in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) has been reported previously. There are only a few studies evaluating the relation between neuroradiological findings and clinical scores, with contradictory results. AIMS: In this study we aimed to measure the iron-rich brain areas of PD patients and healthy subjects with T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to evaluate the relation between the clinical scores of PD patients and these imaging results. METHODS AND MATERIALS: T2-weighted MRI findings were studied in 20 patients with PD and 16 healthy controls. The width of SNpc, putamen volume, and the intensity of the basal ganglia were measured. Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) was used for evaluating the clinical status. STATISTICAL ANALYSES: Mann Whitney U test for group comparisons, Wilcoxon sign rank test for comparisons within the patient group, and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient for analyses of correlations were used. RESULTS: Mean SNpc and dentate nucleus intensities were lower in PD patients than healthy subjects. Mean SNpc width and putamen volumes were lower in patients. Decrease in the intensity of mean SNpc correlated with high UPDRS and rigidity scores. CONCLUSION: The results of our study reflect the increase in iron accumulation and oxidative stress in the SNpc in Parkinson's disease. The decrease in the intensity of SNpc correlates with poor clinical scores.