Cardiac meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) uptake on (123)I-MIBG cardiac scintigraphy is reduced in patients with Lewy body disease such as Parkinson's disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and pure autonomic failure, and has been reported to be useful for differentiating PD from other parkinsonian syndromes, as well as DLB from Alzheimer disease (AD). Postmortem studies have shown that the number of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunoreactive nerve fibers of the heart was decreased in pathologically-confirmed Lewy body disease, supporting the findings of reduced cardiac MIBG uptake in Lewy body diseases. Now, reduced cardiac MIBG uptake can be a potential biomarker for the presence of Lewy bodies in the nervous system. (123)I-MIBG cardiac scintigraphy can allow us to determine the presence of Lewy bodies.
Keywords: Dementia with Lewy bodies; Differential diagnosis; Meta-iodobenzylguanidine cardiac scintigraphy; Neurodegenerative parkinsonism; Parkinson’s disease.
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