• Ashley K Lotfipour, Samuel Wharton, Stefan T Schwarz, V Gontu, Andreas Schäfer, Andrew M Peters, Richard W Bowtell, Dorothee P Auer, Penny A Gowland, and Nin P S Bajaj.
• Sir Peter Mansfield Magnetic Resonance Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, Nottingham, UK.
• J Magn Reson Imaging. 2012 Jan 1; 35 (1): 48-55.

PurposeTo determine if tissue magnetic susceptibility is a more direct marker of tissue iron content than other MR markers of iron. This study presents the first quantitative, in vivo measurements of the susceptibility of the substantia nigra in patients with Parkinson's disease.Materials And MethodsNine patients and 11 controls were studied at 7 Tesla. Susceptibility maps were created by inverting the filtered phase maps associated with T2* weighted images.ResultsOn average, patients showed an increase in susceptibility of the pars compacta compared with controls, which correlates with the predicted increase in brain iron in Parkinson's disease. A rostral-caudal gradient in susceptibility was also observed in controls and patients.ConclusionSusceptibility mapping may provide a new tool for studying the development of Parkinson's disease.Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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