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PET imaging of the dopamine transporter in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy [PSP] and Parkinson's disease [PD]. OBJECTIVE: To differentiate the patterns of dopamine transporter loss between idiopathic PD and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy [PSP]. METHODS: We used the radiotracer [11C]-WIN 35,428 and PET. Regional striatal dopamine transporter binding was measured in the caudate, anterior putamen, and posterior putamen of 6 patients with L-dopa-responsive stage 2 PD, 6 patients with PSP, and 6 age-comparable healthy controls. RESULTS: In patients with idiopathic PD, the most marked abnormality was observed in the posterior putamen (77% reduction), whereas transporter density in the anterior putamen (60% reduction) and the caudate (44% reduction) was less affected. Unlike the patients with PD, the PSP group showed a relatively uniform degree of involvement in the caudate (40% reduction), anterior putamen (47% reduction), and posterior putamen (51% reduction). When posterior putamen/caudate ratios were calculated, these values were significantly lower in patients with PD than they were in patients with PSP (p = 0.0008) and the control group (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with PD have a more pronounced loss of dopamine transporters in the posterior putamen due to a subdivisional involvement of nigrostriatal dopaminergic projections in idiopathic PD. This technique is useful in the determination of neurochemical changes underlying PD and PSP, thus differentiating between them. Neurology 1999 Apr 12;52(6):1221-6 Ilgin N, Zubieta J, Reich SG, Dannals RF, Ravert HT, Frost JJ Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA. PMID: 10214747, UI: 99229560 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/ janet paterson 52 now / 41 dx / 37 onset PO Box 171 Almonte Ontario K0A 1A0 Canada a new voice <http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Village/6263/> [log in to unmask]