[Functional imaging in movement disorders]

Parkinsonian syndromes in the early stage are often misdiagnosed in the general practice. Neuroimaging brings information about changes in the anatomical structure of the brain, which are not typical of movement disorders. The introduction of a functional imaging with the use of presynaptic tracers of the dopaminergic system enables proving nigrostriatal degeneration and supporting the clinical diagnosis of Parkinsonism even in the early phase of the disease. Availability of the single photon emission computer tomography (SPECT) imaging in the nuclear medicine departments gives an opportunity to introduce this neuroimaging method in Poland. In this review we present methods of functional imaging of the brain, particularly of the dopaminergic pathway with the use of SPECT tracers. The role of functional imaging in movement disorders workup for the neurologist is discussed.