Comparison of 18F-DOPA and 18F-DTBZ for PET/CT Imaging of Idiopathic Parkinson Disease

Objective The aim of this study was to compare 2 imaging tracers, F-18-DOPA and F-18-DTBZ, for PET/CT imaging in idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD). Methods We recruited 32 PD patients and 12 healthy controls in this study. All subjects underwent both F-18-DOPA and F-18-DTBZ PET/CT, and the results were interpreted by visual analysis and semiquantitative analysis (specific uptake ratios [SURs]). A 1-way analysis of variance was used to compare the clinical data and the SURs among the patients at different stages. Regression analysis was performed to analyze the correlation between the SURs and the clinical data. Results Among the PD patients, there were 7 patients in Hoehn and Yahr stage I, 14 patients in stage II, and 11 patients in stage III. Linear correlation was found in striatal SURs between the 2 tracers (P < 0.05). In patients of early stages, the striatal SUR decrease percent of 2 tracers had no statistical difference (paired t test, P > 0.05). By initial visual analysis, all the patients were interpreted as positive with F-18-DBTZ (6 unilaterally, 26 bilaterally), and 31 cases were regarded as positive with F-18-DOPA (8 unilaterally, 23 bilaterally). After setting the upper limit of SUR images with the putamen SURs of healthy controls (SURT), all patients were interpreted as positive with both tracers (F-18-DTBZ: 5 unilaterally, 27 bilaterally; F-18-DOPA: 4 unilaterally, 28 bilaterally). Conclusion F-18-DTBZ and F-18-DOPA could reflect the same level of dopaminergic neuron degeneration for PD in early stages, and they have the consistent visual analysis results.

Automated summary

This study compared two imaging tracers, F-18-DOPA and F-18-DTBZ, for PET/CT imaging in idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD). The results showed that both tracers could reflect the same level of dopaminergic neuron degeneration in early stages of PD, and they had consistent visual analysis results.