(TC-99M)-HM-PAO SPECT AND COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN PARKINSONS-DISEASE - A COMPARISON WITH DEMENTIA OF THE ALZHEIMER TYPE

Regional cerebral perfusion was evaluated by single photon emission tomography (SPECT) using (Tc-99m)-HM-PAO as a tracer, in thirty Parkinsonian patients with (n = 15) or without (n = IS) dementia, nineteen patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) and thirteen control subjects. HM-PAO uptake was measured in the frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital cortex and tracer perfusion was expressed as cortical/cerebellar activity ratios. Regional HM-PAO ratios in nondemented Parkinsonian patients did not differ from controls, whereas in demented patients with Parkinson's disease (DPD) a significant reduction was found in the parietal, temporal and occipital cortex. Tracer uptake ratios were significantly reduced in all regions in the DAT group. Thus DPD and DAT shared a common pattern of marked posterior hypoperfusion, although the perfusion defect was greater and more extensive in the DAT patients.