Dementia Japan 21: 68-80, 2007

Myocardial ¹²³I-MIBG Scintigraphy in Synucleinopathy

Mitsuhiro Yoshita, Masahito Yamada

Department of Neurology and Neurobiology of Aging,
Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science

    Lewy body diseases (LBD), such as Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and multiple system atrophy (MSA) are disorders characterized by accumulation of α-synuclein in the brain, called synuleinopathy.　Recent studies indicate that cardiac uptake of ¹²³I-MIBG is decreased in patients with LBD and a part of patients with MSA.　MIBG myocardial scintigraphy is a useful diagnostic tool to differentiate LBD from other extrapyramidal diseases or dementias.　In the present article, we review previous reports of the heart-to-mediastinum uptake ratios in early and delayed images of the MIBG myocardial scintigraphy for extrapyramidal diseases and dementias with or without synucleinopathy.　We also discuss the mechanism underlying the decreased cardiac MIBG uptake associated with synucleinopathy.

Address correspondence to Dr. Masahito Yamada, Department of Neurology and Neurobiology of Aging, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science (13-1, Takara-machi, Kanazawa 920-8641, Japan)