PET in Parkinson’s Disease Patients

99mTc-TRODAT-1 ([2-[[2-[[[3-(4-chlorophenyl)-8-methyl-8-azabicyclo[3,2,1]oct-2-yl]methyl](2-mercaptoethyl)amino]ethyl]amino]ethanethiolato(3-)-N2,N2 ,S2,S2 ]oxo-[1R-(exo-exo)]) is a potential agent for dopamine transporter (DAT) SPECT, whereas 6-18F-fluoro-L-dopa (18F-FDOPA) PET has been used for the quantitative assessment of presynaptic nigrostriatal dopaminergic function. The current study investigated the relationship between the 2 imaging modalities in evaluating patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Methods: Twenty patients in whom PD was diagnosed by generally accepted criteria were recruited. In addition to visual inspection, specific uptake ratios (SURs) of 99mTc-TRODAT-1 in the striatum and putamen were measured bilaterally. For PET, all patients received 100 mg of carbidopa 90 min before 18F-FDOPA (300 MBq) injection. Images were acquired between 120 and 150 min after injection, using a whole-body PET scanner with settings identical to those for the SPECT studies. The SURs for PET were calculated similarly to those for SPECT. Individual SURs of the striatum or putamen from SPECT were correlated with the corresponding PET values using linear regression. Results: A consistent image pattern between SPECT and PET was achieved by visual inspection except for 3 cases. In 1 case (a patient with Hoehn and Yahr Scale I PD), the SPECT images were more compatible with the patient’s clinical findings whereas PET showed nearly normal uptake. In the other 2 cases (both patients with Hoehn and Yahr Scale II PD), PET correlated better with the clinical findings. The caudate and putamen nuclei were more discernable on PET. An acceptable correlation of SUR, however, was found between SPECT and PET in both the striatum and the putamen (P 0.01 for both). Conclusion: The comparability of 99mTc-TRODAT-1 SPECT and 18F-FDOPA PET suggests that 99mTc-TRODAT-1 SPECT may provide a reliable alternative to 18F-FDOPA PET in the evaluation of clinical PD patients.