In a poster presented at the American Academy of Neurology 2023 Annual Meeting, researchers from Hartford HealthCare compared the utility of skin biopsy testing, using the Syn-One Test from CND Life Sciences, to DaTscan for diagnosing synucleinopathies.
Patients with possible parkinsonism underwent DaTscan and skin biopsy procedures and the results were compared to clinicians’ suspected diagnosis. DaTscan results were congruent with the suspected diagnosis in 62.5% (15/24) of cases, whereas skin biopsy results were congruent with the suspected diagnosis in 83.3% (20/24) of cases. Two patients tested positive for phosphorylated alpha-synuclein using skin biopsies where synucleinopathies were not suspected, and eight patients with suspected synucleinopathies had negative DaTscan findings but tested positive for phosphorylated alpha-synuclein using skin biopsies.
Results suggest that the Syn-One Test may have higher diagnostic accuracy than DaTscan when compared to a clinician’s suspected diagnosis, though larger studies are needed to corroborate these findings. The researchers also note that compared to DaTscan, the Syn-One Test is less invasive and less costly and can be performed in-office by any licensed clinician, additional factors that contribute to a test’s clinical utility.
Reference: Urval N, Bortan E, Dagostine M, et al. Clinical utility of skin biopsy compared to DaTscan in diagnosing synucleinopathies. Poster presented at: American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting; April 22-27, 2023; Boston, MA.
