title: Investigating the role of 99mTc-TRODAT-1 SPECT imaging in idiopathic Parkinson's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the role of 99mTc-TRODAT-1 SPECT in diagnosis and assessing severity of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-eight patients with primary, tentative diagnosis of PD and eighteen age-matched normal controls were studied with 99mTc-TRODAT-1 SPECT imaging. The regions of interests (ROIs) were drawn manually on cerebellum (CB), occipital cortex (OC) and three transverse plane slice-views of striatums, the semiquantitative BG (background)/[(OC+CB)/2] were then calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A lower uptake of 99mTc-TRODAT-1 in striatums were displayed in thirty-six out of thirty-eight PD patients by visual inspection, compared to controls. In twenty-four PD cases with (Hoehn and Yahr scale) HYS stage I, a greater loss of DAT uptake was found in striatum and its subregions contralateral striatum to the affected limbs than in the same regions of the controls, although the striatal uptake was bilaterally reduced. Using Spearman correlation analysis showed that the reduction of the uptake ratios significantly correlated with the UPDRS in striatum and all its subregions in the PD group (P<0.05), a similar change was also found in the putamen by using the rating scale of Hoehn and Yahr (P<0.05). However, analysis of variance (ANOVA) did not show any relationship between the decreasing uptake of 99mTc-TRODAT-1 and increasing severity of PD patients, although the specific uptake of 99mTc-TRODAT-1 was continuously decreased in the striatum by visual inspection with the progress of PD from HYS stage I to III.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  99mTc-TRODAT-1 SPECT imaging may serve as a useful method for improving the correct diagnosis of PD. In assessing the role of 99mTc-TRODAT-1 SPECT in disease severity of PD, UPDRS can offer a comprehensive index, although the Hoehn and Yahr assessment may be available in part.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310016, China. gengyu2001@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.forename: Guo-hua
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Ling-xun
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xing-yue
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yu-quan
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Shao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods*; D014326:Tropanes / Q000493:pharmacokinetics
chemical_list: D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C493214:SLC6A3 protein, human; D014326:Tropanes; C104196:technetium Tc 99m TRODAT-1