ArticleEJNMMI research2026
Assessment of striatal and extrastriatal [
Article in EJNMMI research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFor clinical Parkinson diagnostics, [18F]fluoroDOPA Positron Emission Tomography is restricted to striatal uptake assessment. DOPA is decarboxylated into dopamine by the aromatic ʟ-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) and stored in presynaptic vesicles. Therefore, it provides an in vivo measurement of AADC activity and presynaptic storage. This can occur outside of the striatum and may apply to other neuroamines. Extrastriatal [18F]fluoroDOPA uptake has been previously studied using brain dedicated PET cameras and long dynamic acquisition protocols. We investigated the ability of new high-resolution Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) PET cameras to evaluate these extrastriatal [18F]fluoroDOPA uptake sites and the changes occurring in Parkinson’s disease patients (PD).
methodsBesides striatum, [18F]fluoroDOPA uptake was measured in the following structures: periaqueductal gray (PAG), substantia nigra (SN), anterior cingulate (AC) and pineal gland (PG) in 42 essential tremor patients (ET), 50 early Parkinson’s disease patients (PD) and 26 with high grade gliomas (HGG). Visual analysis was performed on ET and PD patients by 3 observers to assess the diagnostic value of the “Mickey mouse sign” related to the abnormal visualisation of PAG and SN uptake.
resultsThe sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the sign for the diagnosis of PD were 95%, 100% and 97% respectively. Quantitative analysis showed higher PAG uptake in PD versus ET patients (2.09 ± 0.13 vs. 1.96 ± 0.20; p = 0.0003). No significant difference was found for SN and PG. AC uptake was lower in PD versus ET (1.17 ± 0.14 vs. 1.24 ± 0.17; p = 0.02). Dual phase imaging in HGG patients showed a high increase of uptake between 20 and 90 min after tracer injection for all structures except for AC, suggesting a non-AADC related uptake mechanism in this region.
conclusionRecent SiPM PET/CT cameras allow measurements of extrastriatal [18F]fluoroDOPA uptake in a clinical setting using short static acquisitions. The “Mickey mouse” sign in PD is related to a decrease of striatal uptake which makes normal SN uptake relatively more visible and to an increase of PAG uptake. The latter is probably related to upregulation AADC in PAG serotoninergic neurons in PD patients and suggests that [18F]fluoroDOPA imaging could be used to monitor these neurons.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.