[I-123] BETA-CIT SPECT VISUALIZES DOPAMINE TRANSPORTER LOSS IN DE-NOVO PARKINSONIAN-PATIENTS

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by degeneration of dopaminer gic neurons in the basal ganglia, which may be visualized by single ph oton emission computed tomography (SPECT) in combination with the coca ine analog methyl-3-beta-(4-beta[I-123]iodophenyl)tropane-2 beta-carbo xylate ([I-123]beta-CIT). The aim of our study was to correlate findin gs of SPECT with clinical data of 34 previously untreated, idiopathic parkinsonian patients [age: 59.58 +/- 10.03 (mean +/- SD) years: Hoehn and Yahr Scale (HYS) mean range: 1.97 +/- 0.83, ranges I-III, Unified PD Rating Scale 3.0 (UPDRS, 30.64 +/- 18.68) and 15 healthy controls (age 47.93 +/- 10.37 years), SPECT scans were performed with a single- head gamma-camera 24 h after intravenous injection of [I-123]beta-CIT. Comparison of the striatum/cerebellum (S/C) ratio of [I-123]beta-CIT uptake of controls and parkinsonian subjects, subdivided according to their HYS range, was significant, No influence of age or sex was obser ved, Significant correlations were found between scores of the HYS, UP DRS parts I-III, part II, part III and the S/C ratio of [I-123]beta-CI T uptake. Moreover, SPECT with the radiotracer [I-123]beta-CIT reveale d side-to-side differences in parkinsonian patients and significant as sociations to contralateral clinical extrapyramidal symptomatology. Ou r data show that SPECT with [I-123]beta-CIT is a valuable tool for est imating disease severity in PD.