Clinical value of cardiac I‐123 metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigraphy between Parkinson's disease and Parkinson's disease associated dementia

It is very difficult that idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with dementia (PDD) distinguish from PD patients, because PD patients may exhibit patterns of cognitive impairment. Recently, cardiac I‐123 metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy has been used as tools to distinguish PD from atypical parkinsonism. Thus, we performed this study to confirm significant clinical value of cardiac I‐123 MIBG scintigraphy for differential diagnosis between PD and PDD. Cardiac I‐123 MIBG scintigraphy was studied in 18 patients with PD, 18 patients with PDD, and 13 normal controls that were matched for age, disease duration, and severity of symptoms. The heart to mediastinum ratio (H/M ratio) was calculated. The mean value of H/M ratio of PDD and PD was significantly lower than normal controls. However, there were no differences between PDD and PD groups. Although cardiac I‐123 MIBG scintigraphy did not distinguish PDD from PD, we wish to focus attention on sustained studies that are needed to differentiate other Lewy body disease from many dementia patients with PD features. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 22, 241–244, 2012