Christine Brand

Ms. Christine Brand

orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

6Years (2021-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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18 December 2021 in Tomography
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
MNMatthew Neill
Matthew Neill
Julia FisherJulia Fisher
Julia Fisher
CBChristine Brand
Christine Brand
HLHong Lei
Hong Lei
SSScott J. Sherman
Scott J. Sherman
Phillip Hsin KuoPhillip Hsin Kuo
Phillip Hsin Kuo
Evaluation of Parkinsonian Syndromes (PS) with Ioflupane iodine-123 dopamine transporter single photon emission computed tomography (DaT-SPECT), in conjunction with history and clinical examination, aids in diagnosis. FDA-approved, semi-quantitative software, DaTQUANTTM (GE Healthcare, Chicago, IL, USA) is available to assist in interpretation. This study aims to evaluate the optimal variables and thresholds of DaTQUANT to yield the optimal diagnostic accuracy. It is a retrospective review with three different patient populations. DaT-SPECT images from all three study groups were evaluated using DaTQUANTTM software, and both single and multi-variable logistic regression were used to model PS status. The optimal models were chosen via accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, then evaluated on the other study groups. Among single variable models, the posterior putamen yielded the highest accuracy (84% to 95%), while balancing sensitivity and specificity. Multi-variable models did not substantially improve the accuracy. When the optimal single variable models for each group were used to evaluate the remaining two groups, comparable results were achieved. In typical utilization of DaT-SPECT for differentiation between nigrostriatal degenerative disease (NSDD) and non-NSDD, the posterior putamen was the single variable that yielded the highest accuracy across three different patient populations. The posterior putamen’s recommended thresholds for DaTQUANT are SBR ≤ 1.0, z-score of ≤−1.8 and percent deviation ≤ −0.34.