Combined Transcranial Sonography of the Substantia Nigra and 18 F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission…

Cohort studyMovement disorders clinical practice· Aug 2026

Combined Transcranial Sonography of the Substantia Nigra and 18 F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography in the Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease and Atypical Parkinsonian Syndromes.

Tong Wu, Ziwei Zhou, Wenjie Gong … Xiao Chen

Nuclear & Molecular ImagingCohort studyDiagnosisQ2IF 2.2

Combined transcranial sonography and FDG-PET/CT diagnoses Parkinson's disease with high specificity

Combined Transcranial Sonography of the Substantia Nigra and 18 F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography in the Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease and Atypical Parkinsonian Syndromes.

Tong Wu … Xiao Chen

Movement disorders clinical practice · Aug 2026

Background

Accurate differentiation between Parkinson's disease (PD) and atypical parkinsonian syndromes (atypical parkinsonian syndromes) remains challenging where dual-tracer ( 11 C-2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-fluorophenyl) tropane [[ 11 C]CFT] and 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose [[ 18 F]FDG]) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) access is limited.

Purpose

The aim was to investigate whether transcranial sonography (transcranial sonography) of the substantia nigra (substantia nigra) can replace [ 11 C]CFT PET when combined with [ 18 F]FDG PET for diagnosing early PD and differentiating PD from atypical parkinsonian syndromes.

Methods

Totally 160 patients with suspected PD or atypical parkinsonian syndromes underwent clinical assessment, SN-TCS, and PET/CT.

n = 160 patients

Results

Correctly ruled out non-Parkinson's disease in 90.4% of patients tested.

90.4%

Combined (specificity)

95.2%

Dual-tracer PET/CT (sp

“

Conclusion · 1 of 2

The combination of SN-TCS and [ 18 F]FDG PET/CT may serve as an effective triage tool for PD with high specificity.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

For atypical parkinsonian syndromes, this combined strategy may provide a feasible diagnostic option in settings with limited access to dual-tracer PET/CT.

Combined Transcranial Sonography of the Substantia Nigra and 18 F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography in the Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease and Atypical Parkinsonian Syndromes.

Combined Transcranial Sonography of the Substantia Nigra and 18 F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography in the Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease and Atypical Parkinsonian Syndromes.

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