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AMSTERDAM -- Parkinson's disease may soon be diagnosed using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging and a radio-labelled analogue of cocaine.
Because it adheres to the same dopamine transporters that degenerate in Parkinson's disease, the analogue, called [123I]beta-CIT, acts as a marker for this degeneration and may allow an earlier firm diagnosis of the disease.
Use of such a method to quantify the number of terminals may be helpful not only in the early diagnosis of the disorder, which can be very difficult, but also in monitoring the progression of the disease and the efficacy of putative protective agents," said Dr. Robert Innis, associate professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Yale University in New Haven, Conn.
Dr. Innis, also director of Yale's neurochemical brain imaging program, is working with colleagues Dr. John Seibyl, assistant professor of diagnostic radiology and psychiatry, and...