Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease Associated with Dementia Using Cerebral Perfusion SPECT

Background: Since patterns of cognitive dysfunction in mild Parkinson's disease associated with dementia (PDD) are similar to those in mild Alzheimer's disease (AD), it is difficult to accurately differentiate between these two types of dementia in their early phases using neuropsychological tests. The purpose of the current study was to investigate differences in cerebral perfusion patterns of patients with AD and PDD at the earliest stages using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Methods: We consecutively recruited 31 patients with mild PDD, 32 patients with mild probable AD and 33 age-matched healthy subjects. All subjects underwent Tc-99m-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime perfusion SPECT and completed general neuropsychological tests. Results: We found that both mild PDD and AD patients showed distinct hypoperfusion in frontal, parietal and temporal regions, compared with healthy subjects. More importantly, hypoperfusion in occipital and cerebellar regions was observed only in mild PDD. Conclusion: The observation of a significant decrease in cerebral perfusion in occipital and cerebellar regions in patients with mild PDD is likely useful to differentiate between PDD and AD at the earliest stages. (C) 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel