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Differentiating progressive supranuclear palsy from other movement disorders using transcranial sonography: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is an atypical parkinsonism that presents with different phenotypes. There are still no validated diagnostic biomarkers for early diagnosis of PSP. Transcranial sonography (TCS) is a promising tool in the differential diagnosis of parkinsonian disorders; however, there are no systematic investigations about the application of TCS in PSP patients. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to discuss the role of TCS in diagnosing PSP by systematically searching PubMed, Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wan Fang databases. Of 66 obtained records, 16 articles, including 366 patients with PSP, were included. Our results showed the estimated random-effects pooled prevalence of substantia nigra hyperechogenicity in patients with PSP was 22% (95% CI 12–32%), lenticular nucleus hyperechogenicity was 70% (95% CI 52–82%), and enlarged third ventricle was 71% (95% CI 55–85%). Additionally, a normal echogenicity substantia nigra in TCS showed 70% sensitivity (95% CI 56–81%) and 86% specificity (95% CI 75–86%) to differentiate PSP from Parkinson’s disease. In conclusion, TCS is an important supplementary biomarker for diagnosing PSP. At the same time, the diagnostic value of TCS in discriminating PSP from other atypical parkinsonism and between different PSP phenotypes needs further exploration.

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Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81501110) and Hunan Province Natural Science Foundation (2020JJ4457).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ultrasound, the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China

    Yafei Wen & Mengwen Xia

  2. Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 87 Xiangya Rd, Changsha, China

    Hui Zhou, Qianqian Liu & Liangjuan Fang

  3. Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Xiangya Stomatological Hospital & School of Stomatology, Central South University, Changsha, China

    Hongzhi Quan

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  1. Yafei Wen
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Contributions

Yafei Wen searched the databases, selected, and assessed the articles, extracted, and analyzed the data, and drafted the manuscript. Hui Zhou, Mengwen Xia, Qianqian Liu and Hongzhi Quan made contributions to article searching, quality assessments and data collection. Liangjuan Fang designed the study and revised the manuscript. Liangjuan Fang and Hongzhi Quan supported the study.

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Correspondence to Liangjuan Fang.

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Wen, ., Zhou, H., Xia, M. et al. Differentiating progressive supranuclear palsy from other movement disorders using transcranial sonography: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Neurol Sci 45, 455–465 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-023-07107-x

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