Protocol of a prospective study on the diagnostic value of transcranial duplex scanning of the substantia nigra in patients with parkinsonian symptoms

Table 1 Expected TCE, FP-CIT SPECT and odour recognition results for all parkinsonian disorders

Disease	FP-CIT SPECT abnormal, [19, 46]	abnormal SN TCD [47]	odour recognition deficit	cognition deficit
IPD	++	+++	+++	±
ET	Normal	normal	normal	normal
VP	normal *	normal	normal (?)	±
DIP **	normal (+)	normal (+)	normal (+)	normal (±)
MSA	++	±	+	±
PSP	++	± (?)	normal (±)	++

= normal FP-CIT tracer binding ratios
↓: FP-CIT binding of at least 2 sd. below healthy controls
* especially visual judgement together with CT or MRI
** At least 10% percent of the patients with DIP will develop to the PD [48]. So some patients in early stages of PD can theoretically present as DIP. Berg et al. investigated the relation between echointensity of SN on TCD and DIP after the start of antipsychotic drugs. Patients with serious parkinsonism scored higher echointensity as patients with mild or no parkinsonism [47].
*** In our retrospective trial 76% of the 27 patients with APS had FP-CIT binding lower as 2 standard deviations below healthy controls. In the 11 studies included in our meta-analysis this percentage varies form 67 to 100% [19, 46]

ISSN: 1471-2377