Pearls and Pitfalls of Quantitative Software Analysis of Dopamine Transporter SPECT

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Dopamine transporter SPECT with I-N-ω-fluoropropyl-2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-iodophenyl) nortropane (I-ioflupane) aids in the diagnosis of parkinsonian syndrome by demonstrating loss of striatal dopamine transporters, proportional to nigrostriatal dopaminergic neuronal loss. Quantitative software analysis (QSA) is a helpful adjunct to visual interpretation. An atlas of pearls and pitfalls of QSA is presented. Examples include correction for head tilt/orientation, scaling artifacts, and detection of balanced loss of activity. Additional examples are provided where QSA can potentially fail such as patient variation and vascular disease.

Medical Subject Headings

Aged; Artifacts; Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins (metabolism); Female; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted (methods); Male; Middle Aged; Nortropanes; Parkinsonian Disorders (diagnostic imaging, metabolism); Software; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

Publication Date

11-1-2020

Publication Title

Clinical nuclear medicine

E-ISSN

1536-0229

Volume

45

Issue

11

First Page

e469

Last Page

e476

PubMed ID

32701796

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1097/RLU.0000000000003183

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