PET Imaging Approaches for the Diagnosis of Neurodegenerative Diseases

A special issue of Medical Sciences (ISSN 2076-3271).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2022) | Viewed by 428

Special Issue Editor

Division of Neurology, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Geneva University Hospitals, 4 rue G. Perret-Gentil, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland
Interests: Parkinson’s disease; dementia; neurodegeneration; PET; SPECT

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by progressive neuronal loss due to the accumulation of misfolded proteins into the brain, underpinned by complex gene–environment interactions. While the diagnostic criteria for Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, among others, are mainly based on the clinical appraisal and definite diagnosis relies on post-mortem evaluation, structural and functional brain imaging allows to assess the intricate pathophysiological processes underlying neurodegeneration in vivo. Notably, positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging can estimate the pathogenic pathways involved in degenerative parkinsonism and dementia. This includes the impaired density of neurotransmitter receptors and transporters (e.g., dopamine and serotonin), altered brain metabolism (using 18F-FDG PET), abnormal protein aggregation (e.g., amyloid and tau), and brain inflammation, all of which can be detected during the early stages of the disease. More recently, other PET ligands have been developed in clinical trials, e.g., 11C-UCB-J, to estimate synaptic density.

The aim of this Special Issue of Medical Sciences is to present a broad overview of the current and future PET/SPECT ligands for the diagnosis of neurodegenerative conditions. Combined with clinical and other biological markers, molecular imaging will certainly contribute to gain further insight into the complex pathophysiological mechanisms involved in neurodegeneration and to help developing disease-modifying treatments.

Dr. Nicolas Nicastro
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • neurodegeneration
  • Parkinsonism
  • dementia
  • positron emission tomography (PET)
  • single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)
  • nuclear medicine imaging
  • molecular imaging

Published Papers

There is no accepted submissions to this special issue at this moment.
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