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Neurology

A review of nuclear neurology 

Many people are living longer, but not all are healthy. How can molecular medicine help to diagnose the cognitive impairments that come with age? 

6min
Takeshi Shimizu
Published on June 1, 2021

Population aging has transformed many aspects of society throughout our world. Senior citizens are increasingly acknowledged as important contributors to the community, and developments in social infrastructure facilitate their continued engagement. In addition, their improved levels of activity, productivity, and socioeconomic status affect society and healthcare demands in unexpected ways. 

Data courtesy of Osaki Citizen Hospital, Japan, and the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.

Objective evidence from nuclear medicine 

Learn more about nuclear medicine

SPECTPET/CT
Jun Hatazawa, MD, PhD, currently serves as chief executive director of the Japan Radioisotope Association

Substantia nigra

Computer illustration showing healthy substantia nigra and degenerated substantia nigra in the human brain.

Normal (left), Parkinson's disease (right): Computer illustration showing healthy substantia nigra and degenerated substantia nigra in the human brain. The substantia nigra plays an important role in reward, addiction, and movement. Its degeneration is characteristic of Parkinson’s disease. Illustrations by Kateryna Kon.

A normal SPECT DaT image (top) with the corresponding MR image (bottom).

A normal SPECT DaT image (top) with the corresponding MR image (bottom). While DaT imaging is normally done with SPECT/CT, the striatum is better localized on MR images. Data courtesy of Osaki Citizen Hospital, Japan, and the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.

Evaluating blood flow 

Molecular imaging for amyloid scans 

Hiroshi Matsuda, MD, PhD, is the current director of the Cyclotron and Drug Discovery Research Center at the Southern Tohoku Research Institute for Neuroscience.

It is very difficult to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease at the very early phase, or at the preclinical stage without cognitive impairment, when the patient’s cognition and structural MR shows a normal pattern.

Hiroshi Matsuda, MD, PhD, director of the Cyclotron and Drug Discovery Research Center, Southern Tohoku Research Institute for Neuroscience 

Just the beginning 

SPECT exams should be made more accessible by reducing costs. It would be useful for screening patients with cognitive risks, to protect both themselves and a healthy society.

Jun Hatazawa, MD, PhD, chief executive director, Japan Radioisotope Association 

By Takeshi Shimizu

Takeshi Shimizu, PhD, is a molecular imaging clinical marketing specialist at Siemens Healthineers. He holds a PhD in biochemistry, microbiology, and molecular biology, and worked as a molecular imaging collaboration scientist for Siemens Healthineers in Japan for 10 years prior to assuming his current role.

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Neurology

This wasn't on the calendar

  1. The statement by Siemens Healthineers customers described herein are based on results that were achieved in the customer’s unique setting. Since there is no “typical” hospital and many variables exist (e.g., hospital size, case mix, level of IT adoption) there can be no guarantee that other customers will achieve the same results. 


    References

    [1] Lees AJ, Hardy J, Revesz T. Parkinson’s disease. Lancet. 2009;373(9680):2055–66.

    [2] Booij J, Tissingh G, Boer GJ, Speelman JD, Stoof JC, Janssen AG, et al. [123I]FP-CIT SPECT shows a pronounced decline of striatal dopamine transporter labelling in early and advanced Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1997;62(2):133–40.

    [3] Matsuda H, Murata M, Mukai Y, Sako K, Ono H, Toyama H, et al. Japanese multicenter database of healthy controls for [123I]FP-CIT SPECT. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2018;45(8):1405–1416.

    [4] Catafau AM. Brain SPECT in clinical practice. Part I: perfusion. J Nucl Med. 2001;42(2):259–271.

    [5] Suppiah S, Didier M-A, Vinjamuri S. The Who, When, Why, and How of PET Amyloid Imaging in Management of Alzheimer’s Disease—Review of Literature and Interesting Images. Diagnostics (Basel). 2019;9(2);65.

    [6] Yamane T, Ishii K, Sakata M, Ikari Y, Nishio T, Ishii K, et al. Inter-rater variability of visual interpretation and comparison with quantitative evaluation of 11C-PiB PET amyloid images of the Japanese Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (J-ADNI) multicenter study. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2017;44(5):850-857. Epub 2016 Dec 13.

    [7] Matsuda H, Ito K, Ishii K, et al. Quantitative Evaluation of 18F-Flutemetamol PET in Patients with Cognitive Impairment and Suspected Alzheimer’s Disease: A Multicenter Study. Front Neurol. 2021;11:578753.