Current Status of Radionuclide Neuroimaging in Bangladesh: A Two-Decade Journey from Planar Scintigraphy to Quantitative Brain SPECT and PET-CT
Keywords:
Brain SPECT, eZIS, ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT, dementia, ASD, NPSLE, NINMAS, BangladeshAbstract
Background: Bangladesh has an estimated 460,000 people living with dementia, projected to exceed 2.19 million by 2050. Since 1997, NINMAS has pioneered radionuclide neuroimaging — evolving from planar ⁹⁹ᵐTc-HMPAO scintigraphy to quantitative SPECT with the easy Z-score Imaging System (eZIS) and ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT — through successive IAEA Coordinated Research Projects.
Objective: To document milestones and research contributions of radionuclide neuroimaging at NINMAS (1997–2025) across dementia, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and neuropsychiatric lupus (NPSLE).
Results: Over 460 patients underwent ⁹⁹ᵐTc-ECD SPECT with eZIS (2018–2025), reliably differentiating Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies by characteristic hypoperfusion patterns. ¹⁸F-FDG PET-CT identified AD pattern in 60%, AD+FTD in 28%, and AD+DLB in 8%. SPECT in 24 children with ASD revealed bilateral frontal, temporal, and parietal hypoperfusion correlating with symptom severity. In a randomised controlled trial (NPSLE; n=72), vitamin D₃ supplementation attenuated cerebral perfusion deterioration (Z-score: 1.66±0.65 vs controls 1.83±0.68) with significantly improved MMSE scores.
Conclusion: NINMAS has established a robust neuroimaging platform producing original evidence across three neurological domains, affirming quantitative brain SPECT as a valid, sensitive, and clinically deployable tool for differential diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring in a resource-constrained setting.
Bangladesh J Medicine 2026; Vol. 37, No. 2(1) Supplementation: 205-206.
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