Diagnostic accuracy of [99mTc]TRODAT-1 SPECT imaging in early Parkinson's disease

We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of SPECT imaging using [Tc-99m]TRODAT-1 (TRODAT), a relatively inexpensive technetium-labeled dopamine transporter ligand, in distinguishing 29 patients with early PD from 38 healthy volunteers. Mean TRODAT uptake values were significantly decreased in the caudate (p = 0.0097) and anterior and posterior putamen (p < 0.0001) of PD patients compared to controls. Using the posterior putamen as the main region of interest resulted in the greatest accuracy (sensitivity 0.79, specificity 0.92). These findings show that TRODAT imaging can accurately differentiate early PD patients from controls and has the potential to improve the diagnosis of patients with early signs of PD. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.