Detection of the Cingulate Island Sign by Early Perfusion Imaging in Dopamine Transporter SPECT With Multiple-Pinhole Collimators

Multiple-pinhole collimators provide considerable improvement of SPECT system count sensitivity. This case report suggests that SPECT with brain-specific multiple-pinhole collimators enables cerebral perfusion imaging with diagnostic quality by an early 12 minutes scan immediately after injection of a standard dose of the dopamine transporter ligand 123 I-FP-CIT. Thus, 123 I-FP-CIT SPECT with multiple-pinhole collimators could assess nigrostriatal degeneration (late image) and extrastriatal involvement (early perfusion image) during the same imaging session. The early image may serve as an alternative to FDG PET in patients with suspicion of an atypical neurodegenerative parkinsonian syndrome. This could streamline diagnostic workflows by reducing the need for additional imaging modalities.