Effects of the method of drawing regions of interest on the differential diagnosis of extrapyramidal syndromes using 123I-iodolisuride SPET

Various parameters are currently used for the semi-quantitative assessment of dopamine D-2 receptors and differ according to the delineation of the striatal region of interest (ROI) and the choice of the reference ROI. The aim of this study was to assess the value of different ROI approaches in differentiating patients with normal or increased numbers of D-2 dopamine receptors (group 1 = Parkinson's disease, n = 8) from patients with decreased dopamine D-2 receptors (group 2 = other extrapyramidal syndromes, n = 9) using I-123-iodolisuride SPET (ILIS-SPET). I-123-iodolisuride (190 +/- 31 MBq) and Tc-99(m)-ethyl cysteinate dimer (Tc-99(m)-ECD) perfusion SPET were performed in the the same position, with a dual-headed gamera camera equipped with fan beam collimators. Both a geometric approach (ellipse, circle or rectangle) and an anatomical approach using the CT scan and perfusion SPET as anatomical guides were used to draw striatal and reference ROIs. A total of 33 different parameters were calculated for each patient, indicating the ratio of counts between the striatal and reference ROIs (frontal, occipital cortex or cerebellum) and the asymmetry between the right and left striatum. More significant differences between group 1 and group 2 were found by using geometric ROIs than by using anatomical ROIs. The most discriminant ratios were the caudate/occipital, caudate/frontal and striatum/occipital ratios (P = 0.001, P = 0.002, P = 0.003 respectively). A close correlation was found between the striatum/caudate and striatum/occipital ratios, but not between the striatum/frontal and striatum/occipital ratios or between the striatum/frontal and striatum/caudate ratios. We conclude that the occipital cortex is the best reference for the semi-quantitative evaluation of dopamine D-2 receptors as the frontal cortex could include some dopamine D-2 receptor-bound radioligand, and that the caudate/occipital ratio is an appropriate parameter for differentiating Parkinson's disease from non-Parkinson extrapyramidal syndrome by I-123- iodolisuride SPET. ((C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins).