The Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) has published new practice guidelines on dopamine transporter (DaT) imaging with iodine-123 (I-123) ioflupane SPECT to assist practitioners in providing appropriate care for patients suspected of having Parkinsonian syndromes.
While clinical diagnosis of Parkinsonism is often straightforward, incomplete syndromes or an overlap between multiple concurrent conditions can lead to other diagnoses, and an improvement in diagnostic accuracy may be possible using a test for DaT visualization.
I-123 ioflupane is a molecular imaging agent used to identify the location and concentration of dopamine transporters in the synapses of striatal dopaminergic neurons. This can help physicians detect certain dopaminergic nerve cells and differentiate Parkinsonian syndromes from essential tremors, drug-induced Parkinsonism, and psychogenic Parkinsonism.
The guidelines were published in the January issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
