Local cerebral glucose utilisation in treated and untreated patients with Parkinson's disease.

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Abstract
Using the 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose technique and positron emission tomography (PET), the local cerebral glucose utilization (lCMRGlc) was measured in 4 non-demented patients with early-onset, bilateral Parkinson''s disease characterized by the predominance of akinesia. The study was done twice, first in the untreated condition, and then after levodopa had been resumed. Despite a marked clinical improvement, no alteration was found in lCMRGlc between the 1st and 2nd studies in any of the brain structures analyzed. Compared to control values, lCMRGlc in the basal ganglia was moderately increased in both studies. These essentially negative findings agree with most previous human or animal studies, and indicate that the functional alterations in the central dopaminergic systems of patients with Parkinson''s disease have metabolic correlates that are too small to be demonstrated by current PET devices.