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Hi All, Dr. Ballard the MDS from Seattle (retired) told me that they can do this test at the University of Washington Hospital. Perhaps several other teaching hospitals across the US can too. David Meigs aka: Pappy [log in to unmask] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Murray Charters" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2000 7:32 AM Subject: Re: Now where was I? misdiagnosis Hi Judith and all, Is the Aug. 2000 European test the same as the MGH '98 test? New Imaging Agent Found for Early Diagnosis and Research of Parkinson's Disease BOSTON--April 30, 1998--Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital have developed a new imaging agent for Parkinson's disease.... http://www.hms.harvard.edu/news/releases/498parkinson.html I had this one in my bookmarks.... Cheers, gotta go t'work ........... murray On 7 Sep 2000, at 8:33, Judith Richards wrote: > I had this in my files... Judith > ------ > Company to Launch Test for Parkinson's in Europe > By Richard Woodman > > LONDON, August 3, 2000 (Reuters Health) - The world's first diagnostic > test for Parkinson's disease has won European marketing approval and > will be launched in the autumn, Nycomed Amersham announced. > > The new test, DaTSCAN, is expected to cost around 500 to 600 but should > transform the present situation where up to 25% of patients diagnosed as > suffering from Parkinson's actually have Essential Tremor, company > sources said. > > The iodine-labelled agent binds to the dopamine transporters on the > neurons in the brain. The number of these neurons, and therefore the > number of dopamine transporters, is significantly reduced in Parkinson's > disease. > > "There are around 500,000 Parkinson's disease sufferers across Europe, > with 60,000 new cases diagnosed every year, "the company said in a news > release. "DaTSCAN is the world's first diagnostic agent approved for use > in identification of Parkinson's. Currently the only objective test for > Parkinson's disease is performed post mortem." > > John Padfield, chief executive of the imaging division, said: "We have > managed to bring a truly unique product to the market that will satisfy > unmet medical needs and benefit thousands of patients who may be > suffering from Parkinson's Disease." > > A company spokeswoman told Reuters Health that in a clinical trial > involving 250 patients, the results of the scan were different to the > clinical diagnosis in ten cases. "In five of those cases, the clinicians > changed their diagnosis. In five further cases, they decided to continue > monitoring the patient." > Copyright © 2000 Reuters Limited. > > > -- > Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada > [log in to unmask] > Today's Research... > Tomorrow's Cure [log in to unmask]