title: Perfusion SPECT studies with mapping of Brodmann areas in differentiating Alzheimer's disease from frontotemporal degeneration syndromes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the contribution of brain perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) studies with mapping of Brodmann areas (BAs) in the differential diagnosis between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal degeneration (FTLD) syndromes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-nine patients with AD and 73 patients with FTLD syndromes [behavioural variant FTLD (bvFTLD); language variant FTLD (lvFTLD), including semantic dementia (SD) and progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA); and corticobasal degeneration (CBD)/progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) syndromes] underwent brain perfusion SPECT. The NeuroGam software was used for the semiquantitative evaluation of perfusion in BAs of the left (L) and right (R) hemispheres.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with those in AD patients, BAs with statistically significant hypoperfusion were found in the prefrontal, orbitofrontal and cingulated cortices and Broca's areas of FTLD and bvFTLD patients; in the temporal and prefrontal cortices and Broca's areas of lvFTLD patients; in the left temporal gyrus of SD patients; in premotor and supplementary motor, prefrontal, orbitofrontal, temporal and anterior cingulated cortices and Broca's areas of PNFA patients; and in the prefrontal, temporal, posterior cingulated and primary and secondary visual cortices of CBD/PSP patients. BA 46R could differentiate AD patients from FTLD and bvFTLD patients; 21L and 25L were found to be independent predictors for lvFTLD in comparison with AD, and 25R, 21L and 23R could differentiate AD patients from PNFA, SD and CBD/PSP patients, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Brain perfusion SPECT with BA mapping in AD and FTLD patients could improve the definition of brain areas that are specifically implicated in these disorders, resulting in a more accurate differential diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital of Larissa, School of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece. valotasiou@med.uth.gr
authors.forename: Varvara
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Valotassiou
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Papatriantafyllou
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sifakis
authors.forename: Chara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tzavara
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tsougos
authors.forename: Eftychia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kapsalaki
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hadjigeorgiou
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Georgoulias
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D057174:Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008297:Male; D055420:Perfusion Imaging; D012372:ROC Curve; D012984:Software; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon