Correlation analysis between flortaucipir tau PET and quantitative susceptibility mapping in progressive supranuclear palsy

Motivation: To improve understanding of underlying mechanisms of flortaucipir tau PET uptake. Goal(s): To clarify the relationship between flortaucipir uptake and iron deposition in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Approach: We performed a correlation analysis between flortaucipir PET and quantitative susceptibility mapping across subcortical regions in PSP. Results: Positive correlations between flortaucipir uptake and susceptibility were found in most subcortical regions in PSP, suggesting the possibility that some flortaucipir uptake is associated with iron in these regions. Impact: The positive correlation between flortaucipir PET uptake and magnetic susceptibility suggests that some flortaucipir uptake in subcortical structures may be associated with iron deposition in PSP. This finding improves our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of flortaucipir PET.