title: Impact of 123I-FP-CIT (DaTSCAN) SPECT on the diagnosis and management of patients with dementia with Lewy bodies: a retrospective study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the impact of imaging the presynaptic dopaminergic terminal using DaTSCAN single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) on the clinical diagnosis and subsequent management of patients with possible dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), who were referred for imaging.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective case note study was undertaken, involving a series of consecutive patients who had undergone DaTSCAN SPECT 12-24 months earlier.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Case notes of 80 patients were reviewed. DaTSCAN imaging results were abnormal (indicating DLB) in 20 (25%) and normal (suggesting an alternative diagnosis or absence of disease) in 60 (75%) patients. Of the 20 patients with an abnormal scan, 18 had a postscan working clinical diagnosis of DLB (90%), one had diagnosis of vascular dementia (5%) and another had no recorded outcome (5%). Fifty-eight out of the 60 patients with a normal DaTSCAN image result had an alternative clinical diagnosis of DLB (95%). Consequently, DaTSCAN findings were concordant with the outcome clinical diagnosis in 76 out of the 80 (95%) cases. Subsequent to DaTSCAN SPECT, scan findings and diagnoses were discussed with patients and/or their carers in 94% of cases and subsequent treatment options discussed in 93% of cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It would seem that DaTSCAN imaging has a marked influence on the working clinical diagnosis and subsequent management of patients with suspected DLB.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Southampton University Hospitals Trust, UK. Paul.Kemp@suht.swest.nhs.uk
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Kemp
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Clyde
authors.forename: Clive
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Holmes
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020961:Lewy Body Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011859:Radiography; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods*; D014326:Tropanes
chemical_list: D014326:Tropanes; C087552:2-carbomethoxy-8-(3-fluoropropyl)-3-(4-iodophenyl)tropane