DaTSCAN™
DaTSCAN™ is a radiopharmaceutical product used for detecting loss of functional dopaminergic neuron terminals in the striatum. In adult patients with clinically uncertain Parkinsonian Syndromes, for example those with early symptoms, it is order to help differentiate Essential Tremor from Parkinsonian Syndromes related to idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease (PD), Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) and to help differentiate probable dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) from Alzheimer’s disease.
Essential tremor/Normal
With normal dopamine transmisson [intact neurons], DaTSCAN appears in these distinctive “comma” shapes
Parkinsonian syndrome
With neuronal degeneration [loss of neurons], DaTSCAN distribution appears in “full stop] shapes
Images courtesy of Southampton General Hospital
DaTSCAN™ is a TradeMark of GE Healthcare.