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PRESS RELEASE
EMBARGOED UNTIL 4 pm, JUNE 22, 2004
Contact: Darren DiPatri
[email protected]
Office: 202-955-1242
Images are available for this study.
Controlling ADHD: German Scientists Use SPECT Imaging to
Predict Patient Response to Drug Therapy
PHILADELPHIA, PA, June 22, 2004 –Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most
common behavioral disorder in children; it adversely affects performance in school and emotional
development, and the symptoms can continue into adulthood.
Researchers at the Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Munich, investigated a method to
predict which ADHD patients will not respond to Ritalin therapy by measuring the degree to which
[Tc-99m]TRODAT-1, a radiolabled protein, binds to the dopamine transporter. The study used single
photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to quantify the degree of binding. They delivered the
results of their study on June 22 at the Society of Nuclear Medicine’s 51st Annual Meeting in
Philadelphia.
Ritalin works by blocking the dopamine transporter, increasing dopamine levels in the brain. But this
treatment is often controversial because it can involve long-term drug therapy in children. Because 20%–
30% of patients with ADHD do not respond to Ritalin therapy, a method of predicting therapeutic
response would reduce exposure of ADHD patients to a drug that is unlikely to be effective.
Initial symptoms and post-therapy symptoms were measured in 18 adult ADHD patients using the
Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scale. Of the 13 patients who showed high levels of dopamine
transporter binding, 12 demonstrated a significant improvement of ADHD symptoms on Ritalin.
Conversely, none of the 5 patients who showed reduced levels of dopamine transporter binding responded
to Ritalin therapy.
According to Dr. Christian la Fougère, the presenting author of the study, “Our results indicate that
measurement of dopamine transporter may be an important prognostic predictor for therapeutic response
to Ritalin.”
Dr. la Fougère went on to speculate, “If we can determine who will respond to the drug and who will not
respond, then only those patients who will benefit will be treated with Ritalin. Moreover, we can begin to
examine alternative methods to treat the ADHD patients who do not respond to Ritalin.”
The Society of Nuclear Medicine is holding its 51st Annual Meeting June 19–23, 2004, at the
Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia. Hot topics for the 2004 meeting include
techniques for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease; advanced imaging for the diagnosis, staging,
and treatment of cancer; nuclear cardiology; and the collaboration between nuclear medicine and
bioengineering in the fight against cancer.
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