Use of neuroimaging in Parkinson’s disease clinical practice.
| In clinical practice, no neuroimaging modalities are currently recommended for routine use. |
| Structural MRI |
| Brain MRI is helpful to detect cerebrovascular damages and to quantify brain atrophy in patients with parkinsonism. MRI is needed to identify the presence of a structural lesion (or lesions) that may cause or contribute to parkinsonism, gait disorder and tremor and should be considered in differential diagnosis between PD and other types of parkinsonism. |
| SPECT |
| DaTSCANTM SPECT should be considered in differential diagnosis between degenerative and nondegenerative parkinsonism in patients with tremor (Box 2). Cardiac 123I-mIBG SPECT and 18F-FDG PET scanning should be considered in differential diagnosis between PD and atypical forms of degenerative parkinsonism (MSA-P, PSP). |
123I-mIBG = 123I-metaiodobenzylguanindine; 18F-FDG = 18F-fludeoxyglucose; DaTSCANTM = 123I-ioflupane; MRI = magnetic resonance imaging; MSA-P = multiple system atrophy parkinsonian type; PD = Parkinson’s disease; PET = positron emission tomography; PSP = progressive supranuclear palsy; SPECT = single-photon emission computed tomography.