The heart may diagnose Parkinson's before the brain. Cardiac sympathetic imaging isn't just a confirmatory test: ✅ PD+OH vs MSA-P ✅ Predicts phenoconversion ✅ Supports body-first PD ✅ Identifies ""sick-but-not-dead"" neurons Time to view cardiac denervation as a biomarker, not a bystander. loom.ly/Tg3LNiA

Jul 23, 2026 · 5:57 PM UTC

1
6
16
1,082
Sort replies: Relevant Recent Liked
Replying to @MDCP_Journal
This is always a tricky one. Reduced MIBG uptake is more suggestive of PD than MSA-P when cardiac sympathetic imaging shows marked denervation, [123I-MIBG or cardiac 18F-dopamine PET] PD and DLBD typically involve postganglionic cardiac sympathetic denervation, so cardiac tracer uptake is often reduced MSA-P more often has a preganglionic autonomic lesion and therefore tends to preserve cardiac sympathetic innervation relatively better. I remember it by linking it with the old song ' Cold cold heart' by Jerry Lee Lewis A cold heart with reduced MIBG uptake is more suggestive of the Lewy body diseases (PD & DLBD) , than MSA
32