Abstract
Purpose. Our aim was the head-to-head comparison between two automatic tools for semi-quantification of striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) specific-to-non displaceable (SBR) ratio brain SPECT values in a naturalistic cohort of patients.
Procedures. We analyzed consecutive scans from one-hundred and fifty-one outpatients submitted to brain DAT SPECT for a suspected parkinsonism. Images were post-processed using a commercial (Datquant®) and a free (BasGanV2) software. Reading by expert was the gold-standard. A subset of patients with pathological or borderline scan was evaluated with the clinical Unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale, motor part (MDS-UPDRS-III).
Results. SBR, putamen-to-caudate (P/C) ratio, and both P and C asymmetries were highly correlated between the two software with Pearson’s ‘r’ correlation coefficients ranging from .706 to .887. Correlation coefficients with the MDS-UPDRS III score were higher with caudate than with putamen SBR values with both software, and in general higher with BasGanV2 than with Datquant® . Datquant® correspondence with expert reading was 84.1% (94.0% by additionally considering the P/C ratio as a further index). BasGanV2 correspondence with expert reading was 80.8% (86.1% by additionally considering the P/C ratio).
Conclusions. Both Datquant® and BasGanV2 work reasonably well and similarly one another in semi-quantification of DAT SPECT. Both tools have their own strength and pitfalls that must be known in detail by users in order to obtain the best help in visual reading and reporting of DAT SPECT.
Chronic abdominal vagus stimulation increased brain metabolic connectivity, reduced striatal dopamine transporter and increased mid-brain serotonin transporter in obese miniature pigs
