SPET striatal uptake in parkinsonian patients with the ·-synuclein (G209A) mutation

Autosomal dominant familial Parkinson’s disease (PD) due to the ·-synuclein (G209A) mutation shares similar clinical characteristics with sporadic PD. Pathological studies however indicate more widespread neuronal degeneration in the familial form. We performed 123I-FP-CIT SPET (DaTSCAN) study in nine patients with familial PD carrying the ·-synuclein (G209A) mutation and fifteen matched patients with sporadic disease. Both groups had equal radioligand reduction uptake in the striatum but the ·-synuclein patients showed less asymmetry and increased putamen to caudate ratio. Our findings indicate that there are minor differences in DAT SPET parameters between ·synuclein and sporadic PD patients insufficient to provide differential diagnosis.