J Mov Disord.  2018 Jan;11(1):1-12. 10.14802/jmd.17071.

Tau Positron Emission Tomography Imaging in Degenerative Parkinsonisms

• Lyoo CH
• Cho H
• Choi JY
• Ryu YH
• Lee MS

• KMID: 2405197
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14802/jmd.17071

Abstract

In recent years, several radiotracers that selectively bind to pathological tau proteins have been developed. Evidence is emerging that binding patterns of in vivo tau positron emission tomography (PET) studies in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients closely resemble the distribution patterns of known neurofibrillary tangle pathology, with the extent of tracer binding reflecting the clinical and pathological progression of AD. In Lewy body diseases (LBD), tau PET imaging has clearly revealed cortical tau burden with a distribution pattern distinct from AD and increased cortical binding within the LBD spectrum. In progressive supranuclear palsy, the globus pallidus and midbrain have shown increased binding most prominently. Tau PET patterns in patients with corticobasal syndrome are characterized by asymmetrical uptake in the motor cortex and underlying white matter, as well as in the basal ganglia. Even in the patients with multiple system atrophy, which is basically a synucleinopathy, ¹â¸F-flortaucipir, a widely used tau PET tracer, also binds to the atrophic posterior putamen, possibly due to off-target binding. These distinct patterns of tau-selective radiotracer binding in the various degenerative parkinsonisms suggest its utility as a potential imaging biomarker for the differential diagnosis of parkinsonisms.

Keyword

Tau; positron emission tomography; parkinsonism

MeSH Terms

Alzheimer Disease
Basal Ganglia
Diagnosis, Differential
Electrons*
Globus Pallidus
Humans
Lewy Bodies
Mesencephalon
Motor Cortex
Multiple System Atrophy
Neurofibrillary Tangles
Parkinsonian Disorders
Pathology
Positron-Emission Tomography*
Putamen
Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive
tau Proteins
White Matter
tau Proteins