Quantitative Research of (11)C-CFT and (18)F-FDG PET in Parkinson’s Disease: A Pilot Study With NeuroQ Software

Dopamine transporter (DAT) and glucose metabolism imaging have been applied in the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease (PD). We explored the possibility of evaluating for PD with NeuroQ software by analyzing (11)C-2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-fluorophenyl) tropane ((11)C-CFT) and (18)F-FDG PET/CT. We retrospectively analyzed brain (11)C-CFT and (18)F-FDG PET/CT of 38 patients with parkinsonism, including 20 with PD, 10 with multiple system atrophy (MSA) and 8 with essential tremor (ET), and compared them with the PET/CT of 11 normal healthy controls (NC). PD patients were divided into mild and moderate-severe grade according to the Hoehn-Yahr (H&Y) scale. The (11)C-CFT uptake in the caudate nuclei (CN) and putamen (Pu) normalized with cerebellum (CN/Cb and Pu/Cb) were obtained with a manual method and NeuroQ software, and their diagnostic performance was compared.(18)F-FDG uptake of specific regions was also obtained with NeuroQ, and the enhancement effect for the differential diagnosis was evaluated. There was significant agreement between the manual method and the NeuroQ method for (11)C-CFT uptake by CN (r(2)= 0.680) and Pu (r(2)= 0.770). (11)C-CFT uptake by CN and Pu in PD and MSA patients was significantly lower compared to NC and ET patients. The cutoffs of CN/Cb and Pu/Cb for the distinction between PD and NC were 1.71 and 2.20, respectively. No difference in uptake ratios occurred between PD and MSA. (18)F-FDG uptake by the pons and cerebellum in the MSA group was markedly decreased. It was highly accurate in distinguishing between PD and MSA when combined with analysis of (11)C-CFT uptake. Pu/Cb decreased significantly in mild grade PD compared to NC group (1.92 ± 0.33 vs. 2.82 ± 0.43); however no statistically significant decrease in CN/Cb was observed until moderate-severe grade PD (1.43 ± 0.11 vs. 2.23 ± 0.36). In early asymmetric PD, a statistically significant difference could be seen with Pu/Cb between the symptomatic and asymptomatic side (2.17 ± 0.30 vs. 1.95 ± 0.22). (11)C-CFT and (18)F-FDG PET/CT can be analyzed quantitatively with NeuroQ software, which provides an accurate method for the diagnosis and severity evaluation of PD.