123I-ioflupane SPECT in the assessment of Parkinson’s disease in a patient with retinitis pigmentosa

Abstract

Retinis pigmentosa is a form of retinal dystrophy characterized by pigment deposition resulting in loss of peripheral vision, tunnel vision, night blindness and in some cases full blindness. Parkinson's disease is a progressive extrapyramidal neurological disorder characterized by rigidity, bradykinesia and tremor at rest due to loss of substantia nigra's dopaminergic cell; this loss can be evaluated with 123 I-ioflupane single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). There are growing evidences underlying a possible correlation between these two conditions; in this report we describe a patient affected by retinitis pigmentosa with a positive 123 I-ioflupane scan underlying a possible connection with Parkinson's disease.