Using [18F]FDOPA PET/CT to Monitor the Effectiveness of Fetal Dopaminergic Grafts in Parkinson Disease Patients

• Status: Unknown status
• Trial end date: 2018-09-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

While positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) can assist in the diagnosis of Parkinson disease (PD), it can also potentially help monitor treatment options for PD. One such experimental therapeutic option for PD is fetal dopaminergic transplantation trials. A potential goal of such novel therapies is to replace deficient dopaminergic neurons in PD. Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan have been at the frontier of these exciting treatment options. [18F]FDOPA PET/CT imaging has been successfully used by some authors to monitor engraftment and assess efficacy of fetal dopaminergic transplant . This study also aims to utilize [18F]FDOPA PET/CT imaging to potentially aid in detecting alterations in the dopaminergic pathway from these innovative surgical treatment options.

There are two main objectives of this study: 1) Evaluate the effectiveness of fetal dopaminergic grafts in patients with PD using FDOPA PET imaging pre and post-surgical implantation and a secondary longer term goal 2) Correlate the [18F]FDOPA PET/CT findings in early PD with post-mortem pathological analyses of PD

• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: University of Saskatchewan
• Collaborator: University of Manitoba
• Treatments: Dopamine; Dopamine Agents; Dopamine Agonists

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of Parkinson's disease based on clinical diagnosis by Neuro-surgeon and/or Neurologist with specialty in Parkinson's disease

• Must be a resident of Canada

• Able to understand and provide written informed consent

• Referred by a treating physician

• Patients must be able to tolerate the physical/logistical requirements of a FDOPA-PET/CT scan, including withholding of medication, lying supine for up to 45 minutes, and intravenous cannulation for injection of the study drug

• 18 years and older, with clinical diagnosis of PD (presence of two out of following three symptoms: bradykinesia, rigidity and resting tremor) as per standard clinical practice

Exclusion Criteria:

• Medically unstable patients (e.g. acute cardiac or respiratory distress or hypotensive, etc.)

• Patients who exceed the safe weight limit of the PET/CT bed or who cannot fit through the PET/CT bore

• Patients who are claustrophobic