DAT Scan PD

[Nicole Theus]

Hello,

In the PD lecture, you mentioned the diagnosis of PD is not based off of imaging, but clinical presentation. What about a DAT scan?

[Chrissy Durrough Lugge]

Hi Nicole! Great question! Parkinson’s disease is ultimately a clinical diagnosis, but dopamine transporter scans (DaTscans) can help complete a clinical picture. Most cases of PD are diagnosed accurately based on a patient’s history and physical exam. In cases of uncertainty (e.g., mild signs and symptoms, unsatisfactory response to dopamine replacement therapy, prominent action tremor, etc.), a DaTscan may be useful.

A study of patients with clinically uncertain PD who underwent DaTscans found that the findings of the DaTscan changed the clinical diagnosis nearly 40% of the time and led to medication therapy changes 70% of the time. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8150650/]

So, DaTscans are typically unnecessary but are a great tool when they are needed! I’m currently updating the Parkinson’s module and DaTscans do make it onto a slide!

[Author]

Posts