The evaluation of the swallow tail sign in patients with parkinsonism and gait disorders

Swallow tail sign (STS), which represents nigrosome-1 in the substantia nigra on 3 Tesla (T) susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), has attracted attention as a promising magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) biomarker for idiopathic Parkinson's disease (iPD). Some reports have shown high sensitivity and specificity —both above 94%—for distinguishing iPD from healthy controls. However, abnormal STS has been observed in many neurodegenerative parkinsonisms and even in multiple sclerosis.
Source: Journal of the Neurological Sciences - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Clinical short communication Source Type: research