Session Information
Date: Monday, October 8, 2018
Session Title: Parkinson's Disease: Neuroimaging And Neurophysiology
Session Time: 1:15pm-2:45pm
Location: Hall 3FG
Objective: This study aims to identify in Parkinson’s disease (PD) whether striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) losses occur at a similar rate in both sides of the brain and in parallel to motor disease severity.
Background: In early idiopathic PD, clinical symptom asymmetry is most common and it is consistent with asymmetry in the nigrostriatal terminal losses, typically measured by DAT–specific radiotracers. As PD progresses, though, it is not clear whether the loss of striatal DAT density continues to parallel the clinical asymmetry.
Methods: 21 patients with idiopathic PD and Hoehn & Yahr stage 2 (disease duration: 3.05-9.68 years; ages: 45.33-65.51 years) had DAT–specific PET imaging with 11C–PE2I in “off” medication state twice: at baseline and at follow–up (after approximately 18 months). PET data were analysed using the simplified reference tissue model and the cerebellum as the reference region. For each participant, DAT–specific binding was calculated as BPND for the putamen and the caudate for both hemispheres. Over time differences in Unified PD rating scale (UPDRS) bradykinesia-rigidity scores and striatal BPND values were calculated. Statistical comparisons were performed with paired t-tests for the BPND values and Wilcoxon ranked tests for the UPDRS scores, for the most and the least affected sides.
Results: Motor symptoms severity (as measured by UPRDS) progressed at the same rate for the least and most affected sides of the body; while the rate of decline of putaminal and caudate 11C-PE21 BPND was significantly greater in the least affected side (p<0.05; p<0.01, respectively).
Conclusions: The data from this study indicates that nigrostriatal terminal losses (as measured by 11C-PE2I PET) do not progress at the same rate bilaterally, and that the decline is greater in the caudate and the putamen which were least affected at baseline.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
AA. Roussakis, N. Lao-Kaim, A. Martin-Bastida, P. Piccini. A longitudinal PET study to assess progression of laterality in Parkinson’s disease [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2018; 33 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/a-longitudinal-pet-study-to-assess-progression-of-laterality-in-parkinsons-disease/. Accessed June 14, 2025.« Back to 2018 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/a-longitudinal-pet-study-to-assess-progression-of-laterality-in-parkinsons-disease/