Table 2.

Molecular imaging findings in vascular parkinsonism

Molecular imaging	Findings
123FP-CIT SPECT (DaTScan)	- Normal scan in 32.5% of VaP patients and abnormal in all IPD patients [49] - ↑ uptake ratio for most affected putamen and ipsilateral caudate and striatum in VaP vs IPD [49, 50] - ↓ Striatal asymmetry index in VaP vs IPD [49–51, 97] - “Punched out” uptake and reduced uptake at area congruous to focal infarct in VaP [49] - Normal scan suggests negative response to levodopa treatment [49, 96]
PET
FDG and F DOPA	- ↓ F-Dopa update (putamen > caudate), ↓ frontal and cerebellum FDG uptake and ↑ thalamus FDG uptake in a case of sudden onset right sided parkinsonism and bilateral (left > right) SN lesion [100]
18F-FP-CIT	- ↓ Left putamen uptake in a case of right sided parkinsonism and left midbrain infarct on MRI [102] - ↓ Left caudate head and anterior putamen uptake in a case of right sided parkinsonism with corresponding old infarct on MRI [102] - ↓ Right thalamic uptake in a case of left sided parkinsonism and corresponding old infarct in MRI [102] - ↓ Left caudate and putamen uptake in a case of right side predominant parkinsonism and left midbrain infarct [101]

↓, decrease; ↑, increase; VaP, vascular parkinsonism; IPD, idiopathic Parkinson’s disease; PET, positive emission tomography; FDG, 18-F-flurodeoxyglucose; SN, substantia nigra