Imaging of dopamine transporters and D2 receptors in vascular parkinsonism: a report of four cases.

The role of nuclear medicine imaging in the diagnosis of vascular parkinsonism (VP) has been addressed by only few studies up to now. Most previous reports suggest no or only mild impairment of DAT and D2 receptors in VP. In contrast, in four patients with VP, reported here, the combined DAT and D2 receptor SPECT showed highly unusual changes in the pre- and/or postsynaptic dopaminergic system. The possible value of combined DAT/D2 receptor SPECT imaging should be investigated by future prospective studies.