The experience of the dopamine transporter SPECT in three pediatric patients with Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation

Objectives Three Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation (NBIA) pediatric patients (2 male, 1 female) had I-123 FP-CIT SPECT in our hospital from January 2014 to December 2015.

Methods According to Japanese consensus guidelines for pediatric nuclear medicine, a dose between 1-2 mCi, based on patient body weight, of I-123 FP-CIT was given intravenously. SPECT imaging was carrie out 3 hours after injection and was performed by Symbia T6 (Siemens Healthcare) SPECT imager. We used DaTView, as a quantitative analysis software. We compared retrospectively these I-123 FP-CIT SPECT findings, MRI findings, and clinical symptoms.

Results In Case 1: I-123 FP-CIT SPECT showed normal findings, although progressive symptoms of parkinsonism and abnormal accumulation of iron in the globus pallidus were observed by brain MRI. In Case 2 and 3: the results of I-123 FP-CIT SPECT showed asymmetrical uptake findings, even though there is no difference between right and left in movement disorder.

Conclusions We evaluated the result of I-123 FP-CIT SPECT in case 1 was normal. Case 2 and 3, normal findings or symmetrical findings was expected in I-123 FP-CIT SPECT, but recognized laterality for accumulation. There isn’t the normal database of children, so the judgments of case 2 and 3 were difficult. It is necessary to accumulate knowledge continuously.

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