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[123I]β-CIT and SPECT in essential tremor and Parkinson's disease

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Summary.

Resting and postural tremor may occur in essential tremor (ET) and Parkinson's disease (PD). The aim of the present study was to investigate the cocaine derivative [123I]β-CIT, which labels striatal dopamine transporters, and SPECT in differentiating these diseases.

Methods: 30 healthy volunteers, 32 patients with ET and 29 patients with idiopathic PD of Hoehn/Yahr stage I were investigated. Specific over nondisplaceable binding ratios (target/cerebellum-1) were calculated for the striatum, the caudate nucleus and the putamen separately as well as a ratio putamen/caudate and the percent deviation of each patient's ratio from age-expected control values.

Results: Striatal [123I]β-CIT binding ratios in ET were within normal ranges and showed only a discrete elevation to age-expected control values (+14.6%). In PD significantly reduced specific binding was evident not only contralaterally to the clinically affected side (putamen: −62%, caudate nucleus: −35%), but also ipsilaterally (putamen: −45%, caudate nucleus: −22%). All investigated parameters differed significantly between PD and controls and ET respectively.

Conclusion: Imaging striatal dopamine transporters with [123I]β-CIT and SPECT could clearly distinguish between ET and PD in an early stage of the disease. Findings do not suggest a subclinical involvement of dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons in ET.

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Received June 1, 1998; accepted July 14, 1998

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Asenbaum, S., Pirker, W., Angelberger, P. et al. [123I]β-CIT and SPECT in essential tremor and Parkinson's disease. J Neural Transm 105, 1213–1228 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s007020050124

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s007020050124

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