Striatal dopamine transporter abnormalities in patients with essential tremor.
METHODS
We used (123)I-Ioflupane SPECT to study 32 unrelated patients with essential tremor (16 with positive familial history), 47 sporadic tremor dominant patients with Parkinson's disease and 31 healthy control subjects. Discriminant analysis was used to categorize healthy subjects and patients with Parkinson's disease or essential tremor.


RESULTS
Patients with essential tremor had higher uptake values (50% putamen and 21% caudate, P<0.001) compared to those with Parkinson's disease but lower than healthy subjects (15% putamen and 21% caudate, P<0.05). Discriminant analysis classified seven essential tremor patients in the healthy subjects cohort (22%) and two as Parkinson's disease (6%).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results show that some essential tremor patients may present mild abnormalities of striatal dopamine transporters and a typical Parkinson's disease-like pattern of uptake loss. These findings suggest a link between the two disorders.
Isaias
Ioannis U
IU
Parkinson Institute, Istituti Clinici di Perfezionamento, Milan, Italy. iuisaias@yahoo.it
Canesi
Margherita
M
Benti
Riccardo
R
Gerundini
Paolo
P
Cilia
Roberto
R
Pezzoli
Gianni
G
Antonini
Angelo
A
D000368:Aged; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism*; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D020329:Essential Tremor / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D008297:Male; D009662:Nortropanes / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods
D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D009662:Nortropanes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C519528:ioflupane