Cerebral Perfusion and Motor Deficits in Drug-Induced Parkinsonism

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Drug-induced parkinsonism (DIP) is the second most common cause of parkinsonism after Parkinson disease (PD). It is crucial to diagnose DIP in patients presenting with parkinsonian symptoms because discontinuation of the offending drug can improve parkinsonism. However, the detailed pathophysiology of parkinsonism related to striatal dopamine receptor blockade and disease-specific cerebral changes remains unclear. METHODS: F-FP-CIT uptakes between DIP, PD, and HC groups and investigated its association with the UPDRS part III total score. We calculated the DIP-related perfusion patterns using W-scores, compared their expression among groups, and analyzed their diagnostic performance. Age at PET scan, sex, and vascular risk factors were included as covariates. RESULTS: group (n = 23) showed relative hypoperfusion in the lateral prefrontal, insular, inferior parietal, and cingulate cortices. In the DIP group, UPDRS part III total score was not correlated with striatal dopamine deficits but was associated with the degree of relative perfusion in the prefrontal, insular, and cingulate cortices. By contrast, the UPDRS part III total score in the PD group was not correlated with cerebral perfusion but was associated with striatal dopamine depletion, especially in the posterior putamen. The DIP-related cerebral perfusion pattern effectively discriminated patients with DIP from HCs and patients with PD. DISCUSSION: Blockage of dopamine receptors by drugs is associated with characteristic cerebral perfusion patterns that are distinct from those in patients with PD and correlate with symptom severity.