Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a common form of dementia. The presence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology modifies the clinical features of DLB, making it harder to distinguish DLB from AD clinically during life. Our aim was to determine, in a series of patients with dementia in whom autopsy confirmation of diagnosis is available, whether functional imaging of the nigrostriatal pathway improves the accuracy of diagnosis compared to diagnosis by means of clinical criteria alone.

A SPECT scan was carried out with a dopaminergic pre-synaptic ligand [123I]-2beta-carbometoxy-3beta- (4-iodophenyl)-N- (3-fluoropropyl) nortropane (FP-CIT) on a group of patients with a clinical diagnosis of DLB or other dementia. An abnormal scan was defined as one in which right and left posterior putamen binding, measured semi-quantitatively, was more than 2 standard deviations below the mean of the controls.

Over a ten year period it has been possible to collect twenty patients who have been followed from the time of first assessment and time of scan through to death and subsequent detailed neuropathological autopsy. Eight patients fulfilled neuropathological diagnostic criteria for DLB. Nine patients had AD, mostly with co-existing cerebrovascular disease. Three patients had other diagnoses. The sensitivity of the FP-CIT scan for the diagnosis.

FP-CIT SPET scans substantially enhanced the accuracy of diagnosis of DLB by comparison with clinical criteria alone.