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Automatic semi-quantification of [123I]FP-CIT SPECT scans in healthy volunteers using BasGan version 2: results from the ENC-DAT database

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European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 12 January 2013

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to assess striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) availability in a large group of normal subjects.

Methods

The study included 122 healthy subjects, aged 18–83 years, recruited in the multicentre ‘ENC-DAT’ study (promoted by the European Association of Nuclear Medicine). Brain single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was acquired by means of dual-head cameras 3 h after [123I]FP-CIT administration. Specific to nondisplaceable binding ratios (SBRs) in the basal ganglia were computed using the ‘BasGan’ software, allowing automatic value extraction with partial volume effect correction. Multicentre camera inhomogeneity was taken into account by calibrating values on basal ganglia phantom data. SBR in each caudate nucleus (C) and putamen (P) were the dependent variables in a repeated measures general linear model analysis; age, gender, handedness and body mass index (BMI) were the independent variables.

Results

SBR values in C and P were significantly associated with age (mean rate decrease with age: 0.0306 per year, or 0.57 % of the general mean; p < 0.0001) and gender (women had higher values; p = 0.015), while no significant effect was found for handedness and BMI. A significant interaction was found between age and region (p < 0.0001) as the age-related decline was 0.028 for left C, 0.026 for right C and 0.034 for both P. P/C ratio analysis confirmed that age-related SBR decrease was stronger in P than in C (p < 0.0001). No significant effect was found for season or time of the day when the scan was acquired by analysing the residual of SBR values in C and P, after subtraction of age and gender effects.

Conclusion

This study confirms the dependency of DAT on ageing and highlights the gender differences in a large sample of healthy subjects, while it does not support the dependency of DAT on BMI, handedness, circadian rhythm or season.

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Acknowledgments

The participating centres thank GE Healthcare and the German Parkinson Association for their financial contribution to this study, ABX-CRO for managing the network activities and the Executive Committee of the EANM for establishing the EANM Research Ltd. (EARL) as an administrative framework for this project. The authors also thank the personnel from each Nuclear Medicine Centre responsible for the quality controls and acquisition of the SPECT data.

Conflicts of interest

Prof. Jan Booij is a consultant for GE Healthcare.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Neurophysiology, Department of Neurosciences, Ophthalmology and Genetics, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy

    Flavio Nobili

  2. Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy

    Mehrdad Naseri & Silvia Morbelli

  3. Institute of Bioimaging and Molecular Physiology, National Research Council, Genoa, Italy

    Fabrizio De Carli

  4. Department of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Susan Asenbaum

  5. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Jan Booij

  6. Nuclear Medicine Department Centre Antoine Lacassagne TIRO Laboratory CEA, University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, Nice, France

    Jacques Darcourt

  7. Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust, London, UK

    Peter Ell

  8. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Gazi Hospital, Gazi University School of Medicine, Besevler, Ankara, Turkey

    Özlem Kapucu

  9. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Southampton University Hospitals Trust, Southampton, UK

    Paul Kemp

  10. Neurobiology Research Unit and Center for Integrated Molecular Brain Imaging (CIMBI), Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Claus Varer

  11. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    Marco Pagani

  12. Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Rome, Italy

    Marco Pagani

  13. Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Osama Sabri

  14. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Municipal Hospital of Karlsruhe Inc., Karlsruhe, Germany

    Klaus Tatsch

  15. Department of Medical Physics and Bioengineering, Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust, Tremona Road, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK

    Livia Tossici-Bolt

  16. Department of Nuclear Medicine and Euromedic Szeged, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary

    Terez Sera

  17. Nuclear Medicine Division, Mont-Godinne Medical Center, Université Catholique de Louvain, Yvoir, Belgium

    Tierry Vander Borght

  18. Division of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Koen Van Laere

  19. Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    Andrea Varrone

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  1. Flavio Nobili
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Correspondence to Flavio Nobili.

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Nobili, F., Naseri, M., De Carli, F. et al. Automatic semi-quantification of [123I]FP-CIT SPECT scans in healthy volunteers using BasGan version 2: results from the ENC-DAT database. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 40, 565–573 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-012-2304-8

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