Tc-99m ethyl cysteinate dimer SPECT and 2-[F-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose PET in Alzheimer's disease. Comparison of perfusion and metabolic patterns.
OBJECTIVE
This study compared Tc-99m ethyl cysteinate dimer (ECD) SPECT images with 2-[F-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) PET images in the same patients with Alzheimer's disease and determined whether ECD SPECT is as useful as FDG PET clinically.


METHODS
Ten patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (mean +/- SD: age, 71 +/- 5.2 years; 6 women and 4 men; Mini-Mental State Examination score, 19.2 +/- 5.3) were evaluated in this study. Both ECD SPECT and FDG PET were performed within 1.5 months in each patient.


RESULTS
ECD SPECT showed a reduction in parieto-temporal perfusion in 8 of the 10 patients, whereas FDG PET showed a reduction in temporoparietal metabolism in 9. The ECD images showed greater radiotracer uptake in the cerebellum and occipital lobe than did FDG images. The contrast between the radiotracer uptake in the sensorimotor area and that in the parietotemporal region was not as great in the ECD images as it was in the FDG images.


CONCLUSIONS
Although ECD SPECT may not be superior to FDG PET, it is useful for the clinical evaluation of patients with Alzheimer's disease.
Ishii
K
K
Division of Imaging Research, Hyogo Institute for Aging Brain and Cognitive Disorders, Himeji, Japan. ishii@hiabcd.go.jp
Sasaki
M
M
Sakamoto
S
S
Yamaji
S
S
Kitagaki
H
H
Mori
E
E
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D003545:Cysteine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; C059659:technetium Tc 99m bicisate; D003545:Cysteine