Cortical metabolic and structural differences in patients with chronic migraine. An exploratory 18FDG-PET and MRI study.

BACKGROUND: To describe interictal brain structural and metabolic differences between patients with episodic migraine (EM), chronic migraine (CM) and healthy controls (HC). METHODS: This is an exploratory study including right-handed age-matched women with EM, CM and HC. On the same day, a sequential interictal scan was performed with 18FDG-PET and MRI. 3D T1-weighted images were segmented with FreeSurfer, normalized to a reference atlas and the mean values of metabolism, cortical thickness (CTh) and local gyrification index (IGI) were determined. Groups were compared using age-adjusted linear models, corrected for multiple comparisons. 18FDG-PET measurements between groups were also analysed adjusting by patient's age, CTh and lGI. The variables independently associated with diagnosis were obtained using a logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Fifteen patients (8 EM, 7 CM) and 11 HC were included. Morphometric data showed an increased CTh in 6 frontal areas (L/R-Caudal Middle Frontal, L/R-Rostral Middle Frontal, L-Medial Orbitofrontal and L-Superior Frontal) in CM patients compared to HC without differences for IGI. The structural adjusted analysis in CM showed a statistically significantly hypometabolism in 9 frontal areas (L-Lateral Orbitofrontal, L/R-Medial Orbitofrontal, L-Frontal Superior, R-Frontal pole, R-Parts Triangularis, L/R-Paracentral and R-Precentral) and 7 temporal areas (L/R-Insula, L/R-Inferior temporal, L/R-Temporal pole and R-Banks superior temporal sulcus) compared to HC. EM patients presented intermediate metabolic values ​​between EM and HC (non-significant). CONCLUSIONS: CM patients showed frontotemporal hypometabolism and increased frontal cortical thickness when compared to HC that may explain some cognitive and behavioural pain-processing and sensory integration alterations in CM patients. Combined information from sequential or simultaneous PET and MRI could optimize the study of complex functional neurological disorders such as migraine.

Usefulness of FDG PET/CT in the management of tuberculosis.

BACKGROUND: The aim of our study is to describe the FDG-PET/CT findings in patients with tuberculosis and to correlate them with the patient's prognosis. METHODS: We retrospectively collected data from patients with tuberculosis, who had an FDG-PET/CT performed prior to treatment initiation from 2010 to 2015. RESULTS: Forty-seven out of 504 patients with active tuberculosis diagnosis (9.33%) underwent an FDG-PET/CT. The reasons for performing the FDG-PET/CT were: characterization of a pulmonary nodule (24; 51.1%), study of fever of unknown origin (12; 25.5%), study of lymph node enlargement (5; 10.6%) and others (6; 12.8%). Median age was 64 (IQR 50-74) years and 31 (66%) patients were male. Twenty-six (55.3%) patients had an immunosuppressant condition. According to the FDG-PET/CT, 48.6% of the patients had more than 1 organ affected and 46.8% had lymph node involvement. Median SUVmax of the main lesion was 5 (IQR 0.28-11.85). We found an association between the FDG accumulation and the size of the main lesion with a correlation coefficient of 0.54 (p<0.002). Patients with an unsuccessful outcome had a higher ratio SUVmax main lesion / SUVmean liver (1.92 vs 7.67, p<0.02). CONCLUSIONS: In our cohort, almost half of the patients had more than 1 organ affected and 46.8% of them had lymph node involvement. FDG uptake was associated with the size of the main lesion and seems to be related to the treatment outcome. The extent of its potential to be used as an early predictor of treatment success still needs to be defined.

Experiencia y resultados de las técnicas de revascularización en patología cerebral isquémica: enfermedad de moyamoya y oclusión carotídea / Revascularization experience and results in ischaemic cerebrovascular disease: Moyamoya disease and carotid occlusion

Introducción: Las técnicas de revascularización cerebral constituyen una herramienta indispensable en el arsenal actual del neurocirujano vascular. Presentamos la experiencia adquirida y los resultados de la cirugía de revascularización tanto en la enfermedad de moyamoya como en la isquemia cerebral oclusiva. Pacientes y métodos: Se analizan los pacientes con enfermedad isquémica oclusiva y enfermedad de moyamoya revascularizados microquirúrgicamente en el periodo comprendido entre octubre de 2014 y septiembre de 2017. Resultados: En el periodo de estudio, 23 pacientes con enfermedad isquémica oclusiva han sido revascularizados microquirúrgicamente. Tres pacientes presentaron complicaciones postoperatorias graves (2 hemorragias intraparenquimatosas en el postoperatorio inmediato y una trombosis de la arteria femoral). En todos los pacientes, excepto en uno, el SPECT muestra una normalización de la reserva hemodinámica cerebral (RHC). Veinte pacientes presentaron un buen resultado neurológico, sin recurrencias isquémicas del territorio revascularizado. De la serie de pacientes con moyamoya, 20 presentaban una enfermedad de moyamoya y 5 un síndrome de moyamoya con afectación unilateral. Cinco pacientes fueron tratados en edad pediátrica. Hubo un comienzo hemorrágico en 2 pacientes. El estudio de la RHC mostró un compromiso hemodinámico en todos los pacientes. El SPECT cerebral al año ha mostrado una resolución del fracaso hemodinámico en todos los pacientes. Ha habido 4 complicaciones postoperatorias (hematoma subdural agudo, 2 colecciones subdurales y una dehiscencia de la herida quirúrgica). Ningún paciente ha presentado un empeoramiento neurológico en los controles a los 6 y 12meses. Conclusión: La revascularización cerebral mediante la realización de una anastomosis termino-lateral entre la arteria temporal superficial y una rama cortical de la arteria cerebral media constituye una técnica indiscutible en el tratamiento de la enfermedad de moyamoya y posiblemente pueda serlo en un subgrupo de pacientes con patología oclusiva isquémica cerebral sintomática

Introduction: Cerebral revascularization techniques are an indispensable tool in the current armamentarium of vascular neurosurgeons. We present revascularization surgery experience and results in both moyamoya disease and occlusive cerebral ischaemia. Patients and methods: Patients with ischaemic occlusive disease and moyamoya disease who underwent microsurgical revascularization between October 2014 and September 2017 were analysed. Results: In the study period, 23 patients with occlusive ischaemic disease underwent microsurgical revascularization. Three patients presented with serious postoperative complications (2 intraparenchymal haemorrhages in the immediate postoperative period and one thrombosis of the femoral artery). All patients, except one, achieved normalization of the cerebral hemodynamic reserve (CHR) in the SPECT study. Twenty patients had a good neurological result, with no ischaemic recurrence of the revascularized territory. Among patients with moyamoya, 20 had moyamoya disease and 5 had moyamoya syndrome with unilateral involvement. Five patients were treated at paediatric age. Haemorrhagic onset occurred in 2 patients. The CHR study showed hemodynamic compromise in all patients. Cerebral SPECT at one year showed resolution of the hemodynamic failure in all patients. There have been 4 postoperative complications (acute subdural hematoma, two subdural collections and one dehiscence of the surgical wound). No patient presented with neurological worsening at 6 and 12months of follow-up. Conclusions: Cerebral revascularization through end-to-side anastomosis between the superficial temporal artery and a cortical branch of the middle cerebral artery is an indisputable technique in the treatment of moyamoya disease and possibly in a subgroup of patients with symptomatic occlusive ischaemic cerebrovascular disease

Actualización de las técnicas de neuroimagen funcional: PET FDG Y PET amiloide / No disponible

Las técnicas de neuroimagen funcional de Medicina Nuclear, PET cerebral con FDG y PET cerebral de Amiloide, son unas técnicas diagnósticas que permiten una mejor caracterización de las demencias. Ambas técnicas forman parte de los biomarcadores funcionales en los criterios diagnósticos de las enfermedades neurodegenerativas

The techniques of functional neuroimaging of Nuclear Medicine, cerebral PET with FDG and cerebral PET of Amiloid, are diagnostic techniques that allow a better characterization of dementias. Both techniques are part of the functional biomarkers in the diagnostic criteria of neurodegenerative diseases

Utility of the 18F-Florbetapir positron emission tomography in systemic amyloidosis.

Amyloidosis comprises a group of heterogeneous conditions. To ascertain the burden of disease is important because it can determine the treatment as well as the evolution of the disease. Recent reports have shown good results in diagnosing cardiac amyloidosis using 18F-florbetapir. We hypothesize that combining whole body PET/CT with 18F-Florbetapir can be useful to characterize the burden of the disease. We included 25 patients, 13 of them with different types of amyloidosis, and 12 with Alzheimer's disease as controls. Target-to-background ratio was computed for multiple organ using maximum standardized uptake values. Organ involvement was described (standardized techniques versus PET) according to different kinds of amyloidosis showing promising results in AA and AL types. Heart involvement showed poorer results when compared to tongue, lung or thyroid gland. Multiple organ involvement in patients previously labelled as having negative organ affectation could be identified. This is the first study to evaluate the utility of 18F-florbetapir in the assessment of the global extension of disease. Our results show that this technique is useful for its diagnosis.

[Revascularization experience and results in ischaemic cerebrovascular disease: Moyamoya disease and carotid occlusion]. / Experiencia y resultados de las técnicas de revascularización en patología cerebral isquémica: enfermedad de moyamoya y oclusión carotídea.

INTRODUCTION: Cerebral revascularization techniques are an indispensable tool in the current armamentarium of vascular neurosurgeons. We present revascularization surgery experience and results in both moyamoya disease and occlusive cerebral ischaemia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with ischaemic occlusive disease and moyamoya disease who underwent microsurgical revascularization between October 2014 and September 2017 were analysed. RESULTS: In the study period, 23 patients with occlusive ischaemic disease underwent microsurgical revascularization. Three patients presented with serious postoperative complications (2 intraparenchymal haemorrhages in the immediate postoperative period and one thrombosis of the femoral artery). All patients, except one, achieved normalization of the cerebral hemodynamic reserve (CHR) in the SPECT study. Twenty patients had a good neurological result, with no ischaemic recurrence of the revascularized territory. Among patients with moyamoya, 20 had moyamoya disease and 5 had moyamoya syndrome with unilateral involvement. Five patients were treated at paediatric age. Haemorrhagic onset occurred in 2 patients. The CHR study showed hemodynamic compromise in all patients. Cerebral SPECT at one year showed resolution of the hemodynamic failure in all patients. There have been 4 postoperative complications (acute subdural hematoma, two subdural collections and one dehiscence of the surgical wound). No patient presented with neurological worsening at 6 and 12months of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Cerebral revascularization through end-to-side anastomosis between the superficial temporal artery and a cortical branch of the middle cerebral artery is an indisputable technique in the treatment of moyamoya disease and possibly in a subgroup of patients with symptomatic occlusive ischaemic cerebrovascular disease.

Clinic-Based Validation of Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers with Florbetapir PET for Diagnosis of Dementia.

BACKGROUND: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker studies have shown variable accuracy for diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD); therefore, internal validation is recommended. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between CSF biomarkers and cerebral 18-Florbetapir positron emission tomography (Amyloid-PET) and calculate their sensitivity and specificity to obtain the optimal clinical cut-off points to diagnose the etiology of cognitive impairment. METHODS: We performed Amyloid-PET scans and CSF biomarker levels analyses in 68 subjects (50 with mild cognitive impairment, 11 with AD dementia, and 7 with non-AD dementia). Visual examination of Amyloid-PET scans was performed. CSF analyses were performed using standard sandwich ELISA. RESULTS: Amyloid-PET was positive in 36 subjects, negative in 26, and inconclusive in 6. Optimal clinical cut-off points for CSF markers were the following: amyloid-ß 1-42 (Aß42) = 629 pg/ml, total tau (t-tau) = 532 pg/ml, phosphorylated tau (p-tau) = 88 pg/ml, and t-tau/Aß42 ratio = 0.58. T-tau/Aß42 ratio showed the best sensitivity and specificity (92 and 84%, respectively). T-tau and p-tau CSF levels (r2 = 0.867) followed by the t-tau and t-tau/Aß42 CSF ratio (r2 = 0.666) showed the strongest inter-marker correlation. Interestingly, subjects with inconclusive Amyloid-PET showed intermediate values for all CSF markers between negative and positive Amyloid-PET groups. CONCLUSIONS: CSF t-tau/Aß42 ratio appears to be the most accurate AD CSF marker. The presence of intermediate values for CSF markers among the subjects with inconclusive Amyloid-PET suggests the presence of other dementias associated with AD pathology or intermediate phenotypes.

Parkinsonism related to Percheron artery infarct.

Parkinsonism associated with strategic infarcts involving Substantia Nigra is extremely rare. We herein report a case of bilateral parkinsonism related to midbrain lesion secondary to Percheron Artery occlusion. This case report supports the hypothesis about the relationship between strategic vascular lesions and the subsequent development of parkinsonism.

Role of [(11)C] methionine positron emission tomography in the diagnosis and prediction of survival in brain tumours.

OBJECTIVE: [(11)C] methionine (MET) positron-emission tomography (PET) is a useful diagnostic and therapeutic tool in neuro-oncology. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between MET uptake and the histopathological grade in both primary brain tumours and brain metastases. A secondary goal was to assess the relationship between MET uptake and patients' survival after surgery. METHODS: We reviewed a consecutive series of 43 PET studies performed at our institution. Out of the 43 patients studied, 35 harboured primary brain tumours (3 grade I, 12 grade II, 7 grade III and 13 grade IV) and 8 patients had brain metastases. We measured the tumour/cortex ratio (T/C ratio) on each PET study and we investigated the correlations among the tracer uptake, tumour grade, tumour type, MRI parameters and outcome. RESULTS: The mean T/C ratio was 1.8 ± 0.9 for benign lesions and low grade gliomas (grade I and II) and 2.7 ± 1 for high grade gliomas (grade III and IV). In brain metastases it was 2.5 ± 0.7, with a significant difference in MET uptake between low and high grades gliomas (P=0.03). There was no statistically significant difference among all different histologic types. We found that both contrast enhancement and perfusion studies correlate with MET uptake in brain tumours. Moreover, in Kaplan-Meier curves, the T/C ratio adversely affects long term survival in patients with brain tumours (P=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: MET PET appears to be useful in diagnosis and evaluation of potential malignancy in brain tumours. MET uptake is also related with the overall survival in patients with brain tumours. Nevertheless, further studies are needed in order to define its possible clinical implications in identifying patients at high risk of tumour progression or resistance to therapy.

Rapid resolution of brain ischemic hypoxia after cerebral revascularization in moyamoya disease.

BACKGROUND: In moyamoya disease (MMD), cerebral revascularization is recommended in patients with recurrent or progressive ischemic events and associated reduced cerebral perfusion reserve. Low-flow bypass with or without indirect revascularization is generally the standard surgical treatment. Intraoperative monitoring of cerebral partial pressure of oxygen (PtiO2) with polarographic Clark-type probes in cerebral artery bypass surgery for MMD-induced chronic cerebral ischemia has not yet been described. OBJECTIVE: To describe basal brain tissue oxygenation in MMD patients before revascularization as well as the immediate changes produced by the surgical procedure using intraoperative PtiO2 monitoring. METHODS: Between October 2011 and January 2013, all patients with a diagnosis of MMD were intraoperatively monitored. Cerebral oxygenation status was analyzed based on the Ptio2/PaO2 ratio. Reference thresholds of PtiO2/PaO2 had been previously defined as below 0.1 for the lower reference threshold (hypoxia) and above 0.35 for the upper reference threshold (hyperoxia). RESULTS: Before STA-MCA bypass, all patients presented a situation of severe tissue hypoxia confirmed by a PtiO2/PaO2 ratio <0.1. After bypass, all patients showed a rapid and sustained increase in PtiO2, which reached normal values (PtiO2/PaO2 ratio between 0.1 and 0.35). One patient showed an initial PtiO2 improvement followed by a decrease due to bypass occlusion. After repeat anastomosis, the patient's PtiO2 increased again and stabilized. CONCLUSION: Direct anastomosis quickly improves cerebral oxygenation, immediately reducing the risk of ischemic stroke in both pediatric and adult patients. Intraoperative PtiO2 monitoring is a very reliable tool to verify the effectiveness of this revascularization procedure.

Progressive presynaptic dopaminergic deterioration in Huntington disease: a [123I]-FP-CIT SPECT two-year follow-up study.

To illustrate the potential of [I]-FP-CIT SPECT DaTSCAN® in investigating the progression of presynaptic dopaminergic degeneration in Huntington disease (HD), we performed a 2-year follow-up [I]-FP-CIT study on 4 HD patients, evaluating the SPECT imaging based on qualitative and semiquantitative analysis. The mean annual decline in [I]-FP-CIT uptake in caudate and putamen after 2 years of follow-up was 5.8% and 9.6%, respectively. Our findings suggest that [I]-FP-CIT SPECT is useful in investigating the progression of presynaptic dopaminergic degeneration in HD, and may be useful as a disease biomarker, providing an objective method for measuring the effectiveness of future neuroprotective therapies.

Quantitative evaluation of striatal I-123-FP-CIT uptake in essential tremor and parkinsonism.

AIM: The aim of this study was to quantitatively evaluate the striatal uptake in 3 groups of patients: essential tremor (ET), drug-induced parkinsonism (DIP), and Parkinson disease (PD), using a voxel-based methodology and volumes of interests (VOIs) analysis. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Sixty patients from the Neurology Department Movement Disorders outpatient clinic in a tertiary hospital with I-123-FP-CIT SPECT were selected. After a clinical follow-up period of 2 years, a final clinical diagnosis of DIP was established for 20 patients (first group); 20 patients were diagnosed with ET (second group), and the third group was made up of 20 patients with a qualitatively pathologic SPECT who were diagnosed with PD.Once processed, DIP studies were spatially normalized to Montreal Neurologic Institute space and an average image was computed to create an I-123-FP-CIT SPECT template using statistical parametric mapping (SPM). Then all the I-123-FP-CIT images from all groups (DIP, ET, and PD) were registered to the new template. VOIs were defined in a digital atlas in Montreal Neurologic Institute space (caudate nucleus, putamen, and occipital cortex). Finally, mean counts were extracted from all VOIs and putamen-occipital and caudate-occipital ratios were computed. Analysis of variance tests were performed with all ratios.A SPM study of patterns evaluated the efficacy of the automated technique to determine whether the significant differences among groups corresponded to the same regions that the method purported to evaluate. RESULTS: The analysis of variance test revealed significant differences between DIP and ET as compared with PD, both in the putamen and in the caudate nucleus. There were significant differences between DIP and ET populations only in the putamen but not in the caudate.The SPM found a lower uptake in the PD group in comparison with the ET and DIP groups. Therefore, in the organic parkinsonism cases, the most significant changes in uptake decrease were found in the putamen nuclei when compared with the DIP and the ET cases. No significant changes were observed between the ET and DIP groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a fairly simple, reproducible, and useful methodology to be applied in everyday practice to quantify the studies of dopamine transporters using FP-CIT.We present the different ratios for putamen and caudate nucleus for 3 different groups with FP-CIT images. We obtained an optimal discrimination threshold value between the reference population and the pathologic population for the putamen ratio.

SPECT imaging for brain improvement quantification in a patient with cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis.

Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis is a rare recessive autosomal disease caused by mutations of the sterol 27-hydroxylase gene (CYP27), which leads to reduced synthesis of bile acids, particularly chenodeoxycholic acid (Cali et al, J Biol Chem. 1991;266:7779-7783; Gallus et al, Neurol Sci. 2006;27:143-149). The disease is characterized by progressive neurologic dysfunction due to accumulation of cholestanol in neurologic tissues (Moghadasian et al, Arch Neurol. 2002;59:527-529; Selva-O'Callaghan et al, Rheumatology. 2007;46:1212-1213). Long-term treatment with chenodeoxycholic acid can arrest or even reverse progression of the disease (Pierre et al, J Inherit Metab Dis. In press).Brain SPECT with 740 MBq of Tc-99m ethyl cysteinate dimmer, using a double-head gamma camera (Siemens E.cam) with high-resolution, low-energy parallel collimators was performed in our patient at onset and 2 years after starting chenodeoxycholic acid treatment. SPECT acquisitions were performed using a 360-degree orbit, 1 image/30 seg/3 degree, and 128 × 128 matrix. Reconstruction was by means of filtered back-projection, Butterworth 5/0.25, without attenuation correction. Pre- and post-SPECT dicom images were reoriented into Talairach space using NeuroGam (Segami Corporation). To visually identify abnormal perfusion regions, volume render brain image was computed, where abnormal perfusion regions were found by comparing with age-matched normal database, and Brodmann areas (BA) were quantified. Pre- versus post-treatment changes were computed by means of relative percentage between counts. Post-treatment SPECT showed better perfusion than pretreatment SPECT with an increase between 5% and 10% in frontal cortex (BA 9, BA 24, BA 32, BA 46, BA 47), parietal cortex (BA 5, BA 31), and temporal cortex (BA 20, BA 22, BA 28, BA 36, BA 37, BA 38), and with an increase of more than 10% in frontal cortex (BA 45) and parietal cortex (BA 23). This case illustrates the benefit of bile acid therapy for halting and even reversing neurologic retardation in this condition.

Does reduced [(123)I]-FP-CIT binding in Huntington's disease suggest pre-synaptic dopaminergic involvement?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the usefulness of SPECT in assessing damage to the pre-synaptic dopaminergic system in Huntington's disease (HD) using [(123)I]-FP-CIT (DaTSCAN), a selective radioligand with regulatory approval as the diagnostic test for investigating functional dopaminergic neuron loss in the striatum in Parkinson's disease. METHODS: We studied twelve symptomatic HD patients using DaTSCAN/SPECT imaging. [(123)I]-FP-CIT caudate and putamen uptake levels were qualitatively and semi-quantitatively analyzed to assess pre-synaptic damage in the striatal dopamine system. Possible correlations were analyzed between HD severity on the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS), duration of clinical symptoms, and [(123)I]-FP-CIT/SPECT striatal uptake. RESULTS: DaTSCAN/SPECT qualitative analysis showed reduced striatal uptake in eight patients. Semi-quantitative analysis revealed a significant reduction in four. Of these four, uptake reduction was at putamen level in all, and also at caudate level in one. Although we observed no linear correlation between HD severity and reduced striatal [(123)I]-FP-CIT uptake, the patients with the worst UHDRS scores had more severe reductions in radioligand uptake. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to use in vivo [(123)I]-FP-CIT/SPECT imaging to confirm prior descriptions using PET of a pre-synaptic dopaminergic system defect in HD.

Fisiopatología de la enfermedad de Parkinson. ¿Ayudará la PET de carga amiloidea a la predicción de la demencia en la enfermedad de Parkinson? / Pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease. Will amyloid load PET scanning help to predict dementia in Parkinson's disease?

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[Non-convulsive status epilepticus secondary to subarachnoid haemorrhage as the presenting symptom of a cerebral amyloid angiopathy]. / Estado de mal epiléptico no convulsivo secundario a hemorragia subaracnoidea como forma de presentación de una angiopatía amiloide cerebral.

INTRODUCTION: Cerebral amyloid angiopathy is a frequent cause of haemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease in persons over the age of 65 and, sometimes, the initial symptoms can be epilepsy-like. CASE REPORT: A 62-year-old female with no relevant past history who was admitted to hospital due to non-convulsive status epilepticus, auditory hallucinations and ideomotor apraxia; an electroencephalogram performed on the patient revealed periodic lateralised epileptiform discharges in the right parietooccipital region. Susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging showed a sub-acute focal subarachnoid haemorrhage in the right parietotemporal region and cortico-subcortical microbleeding in different stages of the progression of the disease that were compatible with cerebral amyloid angiopathy. A critical simple single-photon emission tomography scan was performed and findings revealed an area of hyperperfusion in the same region. Antiepileptic treatment was established with clinical, neurophysiological and scintigraphic resolution. CONCLUSIONS: The article reports a case with non-convulsive status epilepticus as the initial symptom of cerebral amyloid angiopathy. It also highlights the usefulness of sequences of susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and the physiopathogenesis of periodic lateralised epileptiform discharges as an element of epileptic activity is discussed.

Unexpected I-123 FP-CIT uptake in a brain tumor.

A 78-year-old female patient with a 5-year history of bradykinesia and tremor at rest of both upper limbs was referred to our Nuclear Medicine Department because of a rapid functional decline over 3 months with cognitive impairment, generalized myoclonus, and dependence for most basic daily activities. Brain SPECT with 148MBq (4 mCi) of I-123 FP-CIT and 740MBq (20 mCi) of Tc-99m ethylcysteinate dimer (thereafter Tc-99m ECD) was performed.

[Usefulness of transcranial sonography in Parkinson's disease. A comparative study using 123I-FP-CIT SPECT]. / Utilidad de la sonografía del parénquima cerebral en la enfermedad de Parkinson: Estudio comparativo con I-FP-CIT SPECT.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: An increased echogenicity of the substantia nigra in patients with Parkinson's disease has been demonstrated by brain parenchyma sonography (BPS). BPS is a new and non-invasive technique that allows imaging of the brain in 2-dimensional axial slices. Changes in echogenicity can be displayed using ultrasounds. The aim of this study is to evaluate substantia nigra echogenicity in a group of Parkinson's disease patients and controls and compare with disease and functional neuroimaging parameters using ioflupane-single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). PATIENTS AND METHOD: Fourty-two subjects were recruited consecutively. BPS and ioflupane-SPECT were performed in all. RESULTS: Around 90% of Parkinson's disease patients showed a distinctive increase of echogenicity of substantia nigra above or equal 0.18 cm2, whereas this echo feature was detected in 11% of controls. Most of patients (86%) with an area of substantia nigra echogenicity above or equal 0.18 cm2 showed a nigro-striatal impairment, that is, a decreased ioflupane uptake measured by SPECT. CONCLUSIONS: BPS is a useful tool in the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. A good agreement between both techniques was achieved. The diagnosis accuracy obtained using BPS does not seem superior to ioflupane-SPECT. Nevertheless, hyperechogenicity could be considered as a vulnerability "marker" of the substantia nigra.

Utilidad de la sonografía del parénquima cerebral en la enfermedad de Parkinson: estudio comparativo con 123I-FP-CIT SPECT / Usefulness of transcranial sonography in Parkinson’s disease. A comparative study using 123I-FP-CIT SPECT

FUNDAMENTO Y OBJETIVO: La ultrasonografía del parénquima cerebral (USPC) es una técnica novedosa,no invasiva, que permite obtener imágenes bidimensionales del parénquima cerebral ydetectar cambios en la ecogenicidad de diversas estructuras. Los objetivos del presente estudiohan sido: evaluar la presencia de hiperecogenicidad de la sustancia negra, mediante USPC, enafectados de enfermedad de Parkinson y en un grupo control; establecer un punto de corte quepermita diferenciar entre ambos grupos, e intentar correlacionar la hiperecogenicidad con determinadosparámetros clínicos y de neuroimagen funcional obtenidos mediante tomografía poremisión de fotón único (SPECT) utilizando el 123I-FP-CIT (ioflupano).PACIENTES Y MÉTODO: Se realizaron una exploración sonográfica del parénquima cerebral y unaSPECT con ioflupano a 42 sujetos incluidos de forma consecutiva en el estudio.RESULTADOS: Aproximadamente el 90% de los pacientes mostró un incremento distintivo de laecogenicidad de la sustancia negra mayor de 0,18 cm2 (punto de corte que mejor permitió diferenciarentre ambos grupos), mientras que dicho parámetro sonográfico sólo se detectó en un11% de los controles. La mayoría de los pacientes (86%) con ecogenicidad de la sustancia negramayor de 0,18 cm2 presentó una alteración de la vía nigroestriada, determinada medianteSPECT con ioflupano.CONCLUSIONES: La USPC es una herramienta útil y de fácil aplicación en el diagnóstico de la enfermedadde Parkinson. Asimismo se obtuvo una buena concordancia con la SPECT, ya que lamayoría de los casos que presentaban un área de ecogenicidad superior a 0,18 cm2 mostró unadisminución, en grado variable, de los transportadores presinápticos de la dopamina; aun asíno parece mejorar la precisión diagnóstica obtenida con esta última. Sin embargo, podría serun complemento potencial como «marcador» de vulnerabilidad de la sustancia negra

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: An increased echogenicity of the substantia nigra in patients withParkinson’s disease has been demonstrated by brain parenchyma sonography (BPS). BPS is anew and non-invasive technique that allows imaging of the brain in 2-dimensional axial slices.Changes in echogenicity can be displayed using ultrasounds. The aim of this study is to evaluatesubstantia nigra echogenicity in a group of Parkinson’s disease patients and controls andcompare with disease and functional neuroimaging parameters using ioflupane-single photonemission computed tomography (SPECT).PATIENTS AND METHOD: Fourty-two subjects were recruited consecutively. BPS and ioflupane-SPECT were performed in all.RESULTS: Around 90% of Parkinson’s disease patients showed a distinctive increase of echogenicityof substantia nigra above or equal 0.18 cm2, whereas this echo feature was detected in11% of controls. Most of patients (86%) with an area of substantia nigra echogenicity above orequal 0.18 cm2 showed a nigro-striatal impairment, that is, a decreased ioflupane uptake measuredby SPECT.CONCLUSIONS: BPS is a useful tool in the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. A good agreementbetween both techniques was achieved. The diagnosis accuracy obtained using BPS does notseem superior to ioflupane-SPECT. Nevertheless, hyperechogenicity could be considered as avulnerability «marker» of the substantia nigra