"How Much Longer Can Parkinson's Patients Live?"...Brain Imaging Opens Way to Predict Survival Time

Professor Na Sejeong's Team at Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital
World's First Identification of a "Survival Prognostic Indicator for Parkinsonism"

Professor Na Sejeong. Provided by Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital

As the population ages and dopamine production in the brain decreases, the number of patients with Parkinson's disease, who experience difficulty in controlling movement, is rapidly increasing. Among the many questions raised by patients with parkinsonism, a group of disorders that includes Parkinson's disease and other conditions with similar symptoms, one of the most common is about their "future survival time and prognosis."

A research team consisting of Professor Na Sejeong and Professor Lee Youngjoo from the Department of Nuclear Medicine, Professor Lee Taekyu (Hospital Director) from the Department of Neurosurgery, and Professor Oh Yoonsang from the Department of Neurology at Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, has recently drawn attention by identifying a key indicator that can predict the survival prognosis of patients with parkinsonism.

The research team performed quantitative analysis of dopamine transporter activity in the striatum of the brain using F-18 FP-CIT PET (positron emission tomography) imaging.

As a result, they demonstrated for the first time in the world that dopamine transporter activity in the caudate nucleus region of the brain is an independent indicator predicting the overall survival of patients with parkinsonism.

The study, titled "Association Between Dopamine Transporter Activity in the Striatum on 18F-FP-CIT PET and Overall Survival of Patients With Parkinsonism," was published in Clinical Nuclear Medicine (Impact Factor 9.6), a leading international journal in the field of nuclear medicine, thereby gaining recognition for its academic significance.

This achievement is particularly meaningful in that it represents the outcome of a multidisciplinary collaboration among the Departments of Nuclear Medicine, Neurosurgery, and Neurology. The research team expects that, based on the identification of this indicator, it will be possible to establish more precise, personalized treatment plans for patients with parkinsonism and to provide prognosis counseling grounded in objective evidence.

Professor Na Sejeong stated, "It is highly meaningful that nuclear medicine brain imaging has gone beyond diagnosis in patients with parkinsonism to present an objective and quantitative prognostic indicator," adding, "We will continue to conduct research that can provide practical help to patients with severe diseases by utilizing nuclear medicine technology."

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