DaTscan and its capability as a diagnostic tool for diagnosing Parkinson’s disease

Objectives The United Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) for motor skills testing has been the primary tool for diagnosing Parkinson’s disease. Recently, DaTscan has been introduced as an alternative diagnostic tool to diagnose Parkinson’s disease.

Methods A sample of 47 patients who received a DaTscan performed between June and December of 2011who also had a UPDRS test prior to the DaTscan procedure were gathered for analysis. Using the electronic medical record system, the UPDRS score, performing doctor, related treatments, and DaTscan results were recorded.

Results Of the 47 patients that followed the sample parameters, 24 received abnormal DaTscan results. A total of 54% of the 24 patients were medically treated after the scan was performed. Of the 23 patients who received normal DaTscan results, 70% required no treatment. Only 3 of the 23 normal patients (13%) received treatment based on the UPDRS score. The collected data was also separated by the three performing doctors of the UPDRS test and analyzed. Dr. A had a total of 14 abnormal DaTscan patients and 7 were given treatment post scan. Dr. B had 7 abnormal with 4 who received treatment post scan. Dr. C had 3 abnormal with 2 who received treatment post scan. The correlation coefficients were calculated for UPDRS scores based on the result of the DaTscan. The correlation coefficient for the abnormal patients with their UPDRS scores was 0.0007. The correlation coefficient for the normal patients and UPDRS score was 0.0076.

Conclusions For the patient sample, the DaTscan results primarily determined whether a medical treatment was necessary following the scan. Based off the abnormal DaTscans, the doctors determined more than half of the patients required medical treatment. About 70% of normal patients avoided unnecessary treatment due to the results of the scan. The correlation coefficients for both abnormal and normal DaTscan patients were below 1 which showed no distinct pattern among UPDRS scores