The following is a summary of ‘’Characteristics and influencing factors of 11C-CFT PET imaging in patients with early and late-onset Parkinson’s disease,” published in the July 2023 issue of Neurology by Kangli et al.

Researchers performed a retrospective study to examine the differences in ¹¹C-methyl-N-2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-fluorophenyl)-tropanel (¹¹C-CFT)  positron emission tomography (PET) imaging between early-onset and late-onset Parkinson’s disease (EOPD and LOPD), analyzing its correlation with disease duration, Hoehn & Yahr (H&Y) stage, motor symptoms, and non-motor symptoms. 

Study included 113 patients, with EOPD (n=58) and LOPD (n=55) based on age cutoff (60 years). Striatal uptake was measured through manual ROI delineation, and clinical data such as disease duration, H&Y stage, UPDRS scores, and more were collected. EOPD patients showed higher ¹¹C-CFT uptake in the caudate nucleus compared to LOPD (t=3.002, P=0.003). Negative correlations were observed between caudate nucleus uptake and age of onset, H&Y stage, disease duration, UPDRS scores, and other motor symptoms (P<0.05). Similarly, anterior and posterior putamen uptake showed negative correlations with H&Y stage, disease duration, UPDRS scores, and motor symptoms (P<0.05).

Study concluded that ¹¹C-CFT PET can be used to objectively measure the progression of PD. It can also be used to assess the severity of the disease and track its progression.

Source: frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2023.1195577/full