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DaTscan™, a radiopharmaceutical adjunct imaging agent for the evaluation of patients suspected of having a parkinsonian syndrome such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple system atrophy, and progressive supranuclear palsy, has been approved by Health Canada. Approval was received in early January 2018, according to its manufacturer, GE Healthcare of Chalfont St. Giles, UK. It will be available commercially throughout Canada in early 2018.
DaTscan (loflupane I 123 Injection) is a radioactive drug that is injected into the bloodstream to image the striatum of the brain using a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) camera. GE Healthcare stated that the imaging agent is not designed to differentiate among different forms of parkinsonian syndrome.
Parkinson’s disease alone affects an estimated 100,000 individuals in Canada. More than five million people worldwide are estimated to have this disease. GE Healthcare stated that with the availability of DaTscan, this offers an additional tool to help radiologists address the challenges of Parkinson’s disease diagnosis.