To emphasize the clinical and therapeutic significance of distinguishing Parkinson’s disease (PD) from other Parkinsonian syndromes (PS). To illustrate the normal and abnormal patterns of striatal 18F-DOPA uptake in brain PET scans. To study the role of 18F-DOPA as an in vivo biomarker to differentiate PD from other PS. To review current indications of brain 18F-DOPA PET/CT in patients with PS.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most frequent neurodegenerative disorder, with increased incidence due to the aging population, being a leading cause of disability and high health costs. [1, 2, 3] In normal subjects, neurons in the substantia nigra produce dopamine that is transported and released at the striatum through the dopamine pathway. Reduction of dopamine in the striatum (lenticular and caudate nucleus) affects motor control. [Fig 1] It is known that PD is characterized by the progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia...

Brain 18F-DOPA PET scan shows in vivo the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system. The physiological biodistribution pattern of 18F-DOPA in the body includes high uptake in basal ganglia, pancreas, adrenal glands, and excretion in urinary and biliary tracts. [Fig 6] Normal striatum uptake has a typical “comma” shape and is symmetrical. In PD patients, 18F-DOPA PET shows a characteristic pattern of striatal decrease uptake from the back to the front, first losing the “tail” of the “comma”. This pattern is not present in other PS and is...

PD is a common neurodegenerative disorder, and it is important to distinguish between PD and other PS including essential tremor, drug-induced, vascular, and psychogenic parkinsonism. Clinical differentiation between PD and other causes of Parkinsonian syndromes is not always possible and accurate diagnosis is necessary for treatment selection. Brain 18F-DOPA PET scan is a useful tool to study the dopaminergic pathway to differentiate PD from other PS. It’s also indicated to detect early onset PD with mild symptoms, atypical cases and to evaluate patients with no...

M. Hovsepian: Nothing to disclose J. San Roman: Nothing to disclose C. Collaud: Nothing to disclose G. B. Amorin: Nothing to disclose N. Pabstleben: Nothing to disclose

Nevein Ibrahim, Joanna Kusmirek, Aaron F Struck, John M Floberg, Scott B Perlman, Catherine Gallagher, Lance T Hall. The sensitivity and specificity of F-DOPA PET in a movement disorder clinic. Am J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2016;6(1):102-109. Silvia Morbelli, Giuseppe Esposito, Javier Arbizu, Henryk Barthel, Ronald Boellaard, Nico I. Bohnen, David J Brooks, Jacques Darcourt, John C. Dickson, David Douglas, Alexander Drzezga, Jacob Dubroff, Ozgul Ekmekcioglu, Valentina Garibotto, Peter Herscovitch, Phillip Kuo, Adriaan Lammertsma, Sabina Pappata, Iván Peñuelas, John Seibyl, Franck Semah, Livia Tossici-Bolt, Elsmarieke...