Dopamine Transporter SPECT Imaging in Parkinson’s Disease and Parkinsonian Disorders

Overview

Journal Turk J Med Sci

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2020 Nov 25

PMID 33237660

Citations 8

Authors

Umit Ozgur Akdemir

Ayse Bora Tokcaer

Lutfiye Ozlem Atay

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The dopamine transporter (DAT) imaging provides an objective tool for the assessment of dopaminergic function of presynaptic terminals which is valuable for the differential diagnosis of parkinsonian disorders related to a striatal dopaminergic deficiency from movement disorders not related a striatal dopaminergic deficiency. DAT imaging with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) can be used to confirm or exclude a diagnosis of dopamine deficient parkinsonism in cases where the diagnosis is unclear. It can also detect the dopaminergic dysfunction in presymptomatic subjects at risk for Parkinson’s disease (PD) since the reduced radiotracer binding to DATs in striatum is already present in the prodromal stage of PD. This review covers the rationale of using DAT SPECT imaging in the diagnosis of PD and other parkinsonian disorders, specifically focusing on the practical aspects of imaging and routine clinical indications.

Citing Articles

The role of on cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease and Parkinsonisms.

Rosal A, Martin S, Strafella A Front Neurosci. 2025; 19:1515374.

PMID: 40052092 PMC: 11882537. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1515374.

Nigrostriatal Degeneration Underpins Sensorimotor Dysfunction in an Inducible Mouse Model of Fragile X-Associated Tremor/Ataxia Syndrome (FXTAS).

Kul E, Santos M, Stork O Int J Mol Sci. 2025; 26(4).

PMID: 40003975 PMC: 11855849. DOI: 10.3390/ijms26041511.

Neurotransmitters crosstalk and regulation in the reward circuit of subjects with behavioral addiction.

Peng Z, Jia Q, Mao J, Luo X, Huang A, Zheng H Front Psychiatry. 2025; 15:1439727.

PMID: 39876994 PMC: 11773674. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1439727.

Evolving Landscape of Parkinson's Disease Research: Challenges and Perspectives.

Tenchov R, Sasso J, Zhou Q ACS Omega. 2025; 10(2):1864-1892.

PMID: 39866628 PMC: 11755173. DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.4c09114.

Exploring the Potential Imaging Biomarkers for Parkinson's Disease Using Machine Learning Approach.

Mushta I, Koks S, Popov A, Lysenko O Bioengineering (Basel). 2025; 12(1).

PMID: 39851285 PMC: 11762086. DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering12010011.

References

Hellwig S, Amtage F, Kreft A, Buchert R, Winz O, Vach W . [¹⁸F]FDG-PET is superior to [¹²³I]IBZM-SPECT for the differential diagnosis of parkinsonism. Neurology. 2012; 79(13):1314-22. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e31826c1b0a. View

Miller D, OCallaghan J . Biomarkers of Parkinson's disease: present and future. Metabolism. 2014; 64(3 Suppl 1):S40-6. PMC: 4721253. DOI: 10.1016/j.metabol.2014.10.030. View

Tossici-Bolt L, Dickson J, Sera T, de Nijs R, Bagnara M, Jonsson C . Calibration of gamma camera systems for a multicentre European ¹²³I-FP-CIT SPECT normal database. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2011; 38(8):1529-40. DOI: 10.1007/s00259-011-1801-5. View

Marshall V, Reininger C, Marquardt M, Patterson J, Hadley D, Oertel W . Parkinson's disease is overdiagnosed clinically at baseline in diagnostically uncertain cases: a 3-year European multicenter study with repeat [123I]FP-CIT SPECT. Mov Disord. 2009; 24(4):500-8. DOI: 10.1002/mds.22108. View

Erro R, Schneider S, Stamelou M, Quinn N, Bhatia K . What do patients with scans without evidence of dopaminergic deficit (SWEDD) have? New evidence and continuing controversies. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2015; 87(3):319-23. DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2014-310256. View

Simuni T, Siderowf A, Lasch S, Coffey C, Caspell-Garcia C, Jennings D . Longitudinal Change of Clinical and Biological Measures in Early Parkinson's Disease: Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative Cohort. Mov Disord. 2018; 33(5):771-782. PMC: 6001458. DOI: 10.1002/mds.27361. View

Hsu C, Chang Y, Lin W, Tang S, Wang P, Huang Y . The feasibility of using CT-guided ROI for semiquantifying striatal dopamine transporter availability in a hybrid SPECT/CT system. ScientificWorldJournal. 2014; 2014:879497. PMC: 4233671. DOI: 10.1155/2014/879497. View

McKeith I, Boeve B, Dickson D, Halliday G, Taylor J, Weintraub D . Diagnosis and management of dementia with Lewy bodies: Fourth consensus report of the DLB Consortium. Neurology. 2017; 89(1):88-100. PMC: 5496518. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000004058. View

Booij J, Kemp P . Dopamine transporter imaging with [(123)I]FP-CIT SPECT: potential effects of drugs. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2007; 35(2):424-38. DOI: 10.1007/s00259-007-0621-0. View

10.

Grosset D, Tatsch K, Oertel W, Tolosa E, Bajaj N, Kupsch A . Safety analysis of 10 clinical trials and for 13 years after first approval of ioflupane 123I injection (DaTscan). J Nucl Med. 2014; 55(8):1281-7. DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.114.138032. View

11.

Brigo F, Matinella A, Erro R, Tinazzi M . [¹²³I]FP-CIT SPECT (DaTSCAN) may be a useful tool to differentiate between Parkinson's disease and vascular or drug-induced parkinsonisms: a meta-analysis. Eur J Neurol. 2014; 21(11):1369-e90. DOI: 10.1111/ene.12444. View

12.

Tinaz S, Chow C, Kuo P, Krupinski E, Blumenfeld H, Louis E . Semiquantitative Analysis of Dopamine Transporter Scans in Patients With Parkinson Disease. Clin Nucl Med. 2017; 43(1):e1-e7. PMC: 7257254. DOI: 10.1097/RLU.0000000000001885. View

13.

Filippi M, Agosta F, Barkhof F, Dubois B, Fox N, Frisoni G . EFNS task force: the use of neuroimaging in the diagnosis of dementia. Eur J Neurol. 2012; 19(12):e131-40, 1487-501. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-1331.2012.03859.x. View

14.

Vizcarra J, Lang A, Sethi K, Espay A . Vascular Parkinsonism: deconstructing a syndrome. Mov Disord. 2015; 30(7):886-94. PMC: 4478160. DOI: 10.1002/mds.26263. View

15.

Varrone A, Dickson J, Tossici-Bolt L, Sera T, Asenbaum S, Booij J . European multicentre database of healthy controls for [123I]FP-CIT SPECT (ENC-DAT): age-related effects, gender differences and evaluation of different methods of analysis. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2012; 40(2):213-27. DOI: 10.1007/s00259-012-2276-8. View

16.

Treglia G, Cason E, Stefanelli A, Cocciolillo F, Di Giuda D, Fagioli G . MIBG scintigraphy in differential diagnosis of Parkinsonism: a meta-analysis. Clin Auton Res. 2011; 22(1):43-55. DOI: 10.1007/s10286-011-0135-5. View

17.

Zubal I, Early M, Yuan O, Jennings D, Marek K, Seibyl J . Optimized, automated striatal uptake analysis applied to SPECT brain scans of Parkinson's disease patients. J Nucl Med. 2007; 48(6):857-64. DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.106.037432. View

18.

Thomas A, Attems J, Colloby S, OBrien J, McKeith I, Walker R . Autopsy validation of 123I-FP-CIT dopaminergic neuroimaging for the diagnosis of DLB. Neurology. 2016; 88(3):276-283. PMC: 5272795. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000003512. View

19.

Bauckneht M, Chincarini A, De Carli F, Terzaghi M, Morbelli S, Nobili F . Presynaptic dopaminergic neuroimaging in REM sleep behavior disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev. 2018; 41:266-274. DOI: 10.1016/j.smrv.2018.04.001. View

20.

Djang D, Janssen M, Bohnen N, Booij J, Henderson T, Herholz K . SNM practice guideline for dopamine transporter imaging with 123I-ioflupane SPECT 1.0. J Nucl Med. 2011; 53(1):154-63. DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.111.100784. View