Asymmetrical lateral ventricular enlargement in Parkinson’s disease

Background: A recent case report suggested the presence of asymmetrical lateralventricular enlargement associated with motor asymmetry in Parkinsons disease (PD).The current study explored these associations further.Methods: Magneticresonanceimaging(3T)scanswereobtainedon17PDand15healthycontrol subjects at baseline and 12–43 months later. Baseline and longitudinal lateralventricular volumetric changes were compared between contralateral and ipsilateral ven-tricles in PD subjects relative to symptom onset side and in controls relative to theirdominant hand. Correlations between changes in ventricular volume and United Parkin-sonsdiseaseratingscalemotorscores(UPDRS-III)whilstonmedicationweredetermined.Results: The lateral ventricle contralateral to symptom onset side displayed a fasterrate of enlargement compared to the ipsilateral (P = 0.004) in PD subjects, with nosuch asymmetry detected (P = 0.312) in controls. There was a positive correlationbetween ventricular enlargement and worsening motor function assessed by UPDRS-III scores (r = 0.96, P < 0.001).Discussion: There is asymmetrical lateral ventricular enlargement that is associatedwith PD motor asymmetry and progression. Further studies are warranted to inves-tigate the underlying mechanism(s), as well as the potential of using volumetricmeasurements as a marker for PD progression.