PET STUDY OF STRIATAL FLUORODOPA UPTAKE AND DOPAMINE D-2 RECEPTOR-BINDING IN A PATIENT WITH JUVENILE PARKINSONISM

We studied pre-synaptic and post-synaptic function in the striatum of a patient with juvenile parkinsonism (JP) using positron emission tomo graphy (PET). [F-18]6-fluorodopa ((18)FDOPA), C-11-YM-09151-2 and [F-1 8]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ((18)FDG) were used to measure fluorodopa u ptake, dopamine D-2 receptor binding and glucose metabolism, respectiv ely. In this patient, (18)FDOPA accumulation was decreased markedly in the caudate nucleus and the putamen bilaterally. In the images of C-1 1-YM-09151-2 and (18)FDG, in contrast, no conspicuous changes were obs erved in the striatum. Thus our PET studies using (18)FDOPA, C-11-YM-0 9151-2 and (18)FDG provide a useful approach for assisting the diagnos is of JP, because the present findings are different from the results in patients with dopa-responsive dystonia and hereditary progressive d ystonia with marked diurnal fluctuation. Furthermore, our findings are of particular interest in relation to the pathogenesis of JP. (C) 199 8 Lippincott-Raven Publishers.