Non-motor symptoms (NMS) in Parkinson’s disease (PD), including neuropsychiatric or dysautonomic complaints, fatigue, or pain, are frequent and have a high impact on the patient’s quality of life. They are often poorly recognized and inadequately treated. In the recent years, the growing awareness of NMS has favored the development of techniques that complement the clinician’s diagnosis. This review provides an overview of the most important ultrasonographic findings related to the presence of various NMS. Literature research was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science from inception until January 2021, retrieving 23 prospective observational studies evaluating transcranial and cervical ultrasound in depression, dementia, dysautonomic symptoms, psychosis, and restless leg syndrome. Overall, the eligible articles showed good or fair quality according to the QUADAS-2 assessment. Brainstem raphe hypoechogenicity was related to the presence of depression in PD and also in depressed patients without PD, as well as to overactive bladder. Substantia nigra hyperechogenicity was frequent in patients with visual hallucinations, and larger intracranial ventricles correlated with dementia. Evaluation of the vagus nerve showed contradictory findings. The results of this systematic review demonstrated that transcranial ultrasound can be a useful complementary tool in the evaluation of NMS in PD.

Objectives: Cardiac point-of-care ultrasound (cPOCUS) enables rapid bedside cardiac assessment and may facilitate early identification of potential cardiac sources of embolism in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). This study aimed to evaluate whether neurologist-performed cPOCUS is associated with reduced hospital length of stay (LOS) in patients admitted to a Stroke Unit (SU). Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study including consecutive patients with AIS admitted between 2020 and 2021 who required cardiac ultrasound for etiological evaluation. Patients underwent cPOCUS and/or transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and were classified into two groups: those evaluated with cPOCUS (with or without TTE) and those evaluated exclusively with TTE (control group). The availability of cPOCUS depended on predefined weekly schedules rather than individual clinical decision-making, partially mitigating selection bias. The primary outcome was LOS. Multivariable linear regression analysis was performed to adjust for potential confounders. Results: Among 808 patients with AIS, 332 underwent cardiac ultrasonography during hospitalization: 219 in the cPOCUS group and 113 in the control group. Overall, 60.4% were male, the mean age was 68.4 years (SD 13.3), and the median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score at admission was 5 (IQR 9), with no significant differences between groups. Median LOS was shorter in the cPOCUS group than in the control group [7 days (IQR 4) vs. 8 days (IQR 5); p = 0.015]. After adjustment for confounders, cPOCUS evaluation remained independently associated with shorter LOS (β −1.49, standard error 0.73, 95% CI −2.93 to −0.05; p = 0.04). Conclusions: Neurologist-performed cPOCUS is independently associated with reduced LOS in patients with AIS admitted to an SU. These findings suggest that cPOCUS may facilitate more efficient in-hospital workflows and support its potential integration into routine stroke care pathways.

Objectives Cardiac point-of-care ultrasound (cPOCUS) enables rapid bedside cardiac assessment and may facilitate early identification of potential cardiac sources of embolism in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). This study evaluated whether neurologist-performed cPOCUS is associated with a reduced hospital length of stay (LOS) in patients admitted to a Stroke Unit (SU). Methods We conducted a retrospective observational study including consecutive patients with AIS admitted between 2020 and 2021 who required cardiac ultrasound for etiological evaluation. Patients underwent cPOCUS and/or transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and were classified into two groups: those evaluated with cPOCUS (with or without TTE) and those evaluated exclusively with TTE (control group). The availability of cPOCUS depended on predefined weekly schedules rather than individual clinical decision-making, partially mitigating selection bias. The primary outcome was LOS. Multivariable linear regression analyses were performed to adjust for potential confounders. Results Among 808 patients with AIS, 332 underwent cardiac ultrasonography during hospitalization: 219 in the cPOCUS group and 113 in the control group. Overall, 60.4% were male, the mean age was 68.4 years (SD 13.3), and the median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score at admission was 5 (IQR 9), with no significant differences between groups. Median LOS was shorter in the cPOCUS group than in the control group [7 days (IQR 4) vs. 8 days (IQR 5); p = 0.015]. After adjustment for confounders, cPOCUS evaluation remained independently associated with a shorter LOS (β −1.49, standard error 0.73). Conclusions Neurologist-performed cPOCUS is independently associated with reduced LOS in patients with AIS admitted to an SU. These findings suggest that cPOCUS may facilitate more efficient in-hospital workflows and support its potential integration into routine stroke care pathways.