DAT scan for Parkinsons disease usefulness and cost

HI, @gbridg - welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I believe that many members of the Parkinson's Disease support group here are familiar with a DAT scan. You will notice there is some information about DAT scans in the Diagnosis section of the Mayo Clinic online information about Parkinson's Disease:

- Parkinson's disease https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/parkinsons-disease/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20376062

Do you and/or your doctor suspect you may have Parkinson's? Are you undergoing testing at this time?

Hello @gbridg,

I want to join @lisalucier in welcoming you to the PD support group on Mayo Clinic Connect. The link she provided in her post is an excellent introduction to how PD can be diagnosed. The DAT scan you mentioned is one of the diagnostic methods, but as you read the information in the link, it's clear that it is not the only one.

What types of symptoms are you currently having? Have you seen a neurologist for an evaluation?

I had the SynOne skin sampling test for alpha-synuclein .
The charges to Medicare totaled 1900 dollars approved.
It was FDA approved last year and has very high accuracy for
the underlying marker for Parkinson’s in our nerves.
The DAT scan is a key component for diagnosis.

@lisalucier Hi Lisa, my name is Steve. I’m soooo totally confused. Had DAT Scan in May at Piedmont Health. Said, showed no signs of Parkinson’s, visited Vanderbilt ALS, said that’s not the issue, even suggested that DAT Scan is at best fifty percent accurate and leaned back towards Parkinson’s. Have visited with, now, at least 5 different neurologist and can’t pin down a diagnosis. Any other suggestions? Got all the problems but no answers…..

Hello @steve1956, and welcome to the Parkinson's Support group on Mayo Clinic Connect. I can empathize with you. I had symptoms of PD for at least 10 years prior to my diagnosis and went to several different neurologists trying to find an answer. I finally found a neurologist who suspected PD and, after doing other diagnostic tests to rule out other neurological disorders, gave me a prescription for Carbidopa/Levodopa (C/L). I titrated C/L until I was up to three tablets a day. It made a tremendous difference in my symptoms, so it was determined that I had PD.

While this does sound like a rather unusual way to diagnose any disorder, it is not unheard of when it comes to PD.

My symptoms of PD were balance problems, an awkward gait (staggering at times), foot dragging, and right-sided weakness. In addition, I had a very soft voice. Are any of these symptoms familiar to you?

Here is some information from the Mayo Clinic website regarding PD and ways it can be diagnosed
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/parkinsons-disease/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20376062
As you look at the diagnostic methods, you will see,

"A short, low-dose treatment of medicines. You may be given medicines used to treat Parkinson's disease to see if you get better. If your symptoms show significant improvement, this may help confirm your diagnosis. You must be given a sufficient dose to show the benefit, as getting low doses for a day or two isn't reliable."

After several years of taking C/L, I changed to a hospital system that provided the DAT Scan. The results of mine were normal, just like yours. I tried to go off of the C/L but was not able to as the symptoms increased.

I hope you keep searching for answers. Will you post again and let me know how you are doing with this process?

@hopeful33250 My gosh, I’m sorry about your search but thank you very much for the info, in fact, it makes me “hopeful”. I will definitely look into C/L my symptoms are exactly as yours but left side. Already diagnosed with bi lateral carpal tunnel, dominant right hand already operated on, not sure I’ll do the left.
Thank you again, Steve

@steve1956
Glad to be of help! Will you keep in touch and let me know how you are doing?

You bet, already have an appointment back at Vanderbilt’s movement disorders clinic in November, also new neurologist appt in January at Emory in Atlanta. Stay well….

@steve1956 My spouse has Parkinsons. The best physician I found for him was a movement disorder Neurologist. He opened the door for PT /ST. I tried since 2018. Not until this year was I able to get these done. You are sounding like you are dealing with the fact that they are not sure. This should or possibly cut out alot of wasted visits. Good luck and God Bless you. I always have time to see how it goes. 🫂

@sillyblone Thanks, hopefully the movement clinic will get me on the right track. Certainly looking forward to the visit.
Good luck to both you and your spouse…..🙏