Recent Developments in Imaging of Parkinsonism: Nuclear Medicine Approach
Ümit Özgür AKDEMİR, L. Özlem ATAY KAPUCU
Gazi Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Nükleer Tıp Anabilim Dalı, Ankara, Türkiye
Keywords: Beta-amyloid; dopaminergic neurotransmission; F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose; parkinsonism; positron emission tomography; single-photon emission computed tomography; sympathetic nervous system; tau proteins.
Abstract
Nuclear medicine imaging provides significant information about brain functions in research and diagnosis of neurological diseases. Besides brain perfusion and glucose metabolism, assessment of the dopaminergic system and pathological protein accumulations by nuclear medicine methods is important for differential diagnosis in patients with parkinsonism. This manuscript aims to summarize the most common nuclear medicine methods administered in patients with parkinsonism, and the imaging findings of these methods.