Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2011 Jun:1228:93-108.
doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06025.x.

PET/CT in diagnosis of movement disorders

Valentina Berti  1 , Alberto Pupi, Lisa Mosconi
Affiliations
Review

PET/CT in diagnosis of movement disorders

Valentina Berti et al. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2011 Jun.

Abstract

Molecular imaging with PET offers a broad variety of tools supporting the diagnosis of movement disorders. The more widely applied PET imaging techniques have focused on the assessment of neurotransmitter systems, predominantly the pre- and postsynaptic dopaminergic system. Additionally, PET imaging with [(18) F]fluorodeoxyglucose has been extensively used to assess local synaptic activity in the resting state and to highlight local changes in brain metabolism accompanying changes in neural activity in movement disorders. PET imaging has provided us with diagnostic agents as well as tools for evaluation of novel therapeutics, and has served as a powerful means for revealing in vivo changes at different stages of movement disorders and within the course of an individual patient's illness.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Illustration of the main findings in movement disorders with presynaptic (left) and postsynaptic dopaminergic (middle), and [18F]FDG PET imaging.
Figure 2
Figure 2
[18F]DOPA PET scans of a representative normal subject, a patient with PD, and a patient with atypical parkinsonism (progressive supranuclear palsy [PSP]). Image courtesy of Angela Cistaro, PET Center IRMET, Turin, Italy.
Figure 3
Figure 3
[18F]FDG PET scans of a representative cognitive normal individual (NL, left) and of four patients, each with a different movement disorder (from left to right): Parkinson’s disease (PD), multiple system atrophy (MSA), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and corticobasal degeneration (CBD).
Figure 4
Figure 4
[18F]FDG PET scans of a representative patient with HD (right) compared to a control subject (left).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Tanner CM, Goldman SM. Epidemiology of Parkinson’s disease. Neurol Clin. 1996;14:317–335. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wichmann T, DeLong MR. Pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease: the MPTP primate model of the human disorder. Ann NY Acad Sci. 2003;991:199–213. - PubMed
    1. Morrish PK, Rakshi JS, Bailey DL, et al. Measuring the rate of progression and estimating the preclinical period of Parkinson’s disease with [F-18] dopa PET. J Neurol Neu-rosurg Psychiatry. 1998;64:314–319. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hughes AJ, Daniel SE, Kilford L, Lees AJ. Accuracy of clinical diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease: a clinico-pathological study of 100 cases. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1992;55:181–184. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brooks DJ, Ibanez V, Sawle GV, et al. Differing patterns of striatal 18F-dopa uptake in Parkinson’s disease, multiple system atrophy, and progressive sopranuclear palsy. Ann Neurol. 1990;28:547–555. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms