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The detection of preclinical Parkinson's disease: What is the role of positron emission tomography?
Author(s) -
Sawle Guy V.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
movement disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.352
H-Index - 198
eISSN - 1531-8257
pISSN - 0885-3185
DOI - 10.1002/mds.870080304
Subject(s) - positron emission tomography , parkinson's disease , disease , serendipity , medicine , psychology , nuclear medicine , neuroscience , pathology , philosophy , epistemology
On clinical criteria alone, the diagnosis of early Parkinson's disease can be difficult and, by definition, the prospective recognition of preclinical Parkinson's disease is impossible. Positron emission tomography (PET) using [ 18 F]dopa as tracer has been proposed as a means of identifying patients with preclinical disease. The number of subjects detected to date has been few; most have been identified by serendipity or during the course of family studies. This review examines the significance of a single abnormal scan in an apparently healthty subject in terms of the relationship between normal and abnormal values and the time course of the disease.