---
title: Detect neck norepinephrine nerve loss
nct_id: NCT05741151
phase: NA
status: RECRUITING
sponsor: Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS
study_type: INTERVENTIONAL
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT05741151"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05741151"
last_fetched: "2026-05-10T14:08:45.144Z"
source: "Parkinson's Pathways (curated)"
---
# Detect neck norepinephrine nerve loss

**Goal (in five words):** Detect neck norepinephrine nerve loss

**Official Title:** Evaluation of Peripheral Catecholaminergic System in Neurodegenerative Diseases of the Central Nervous System. A Pilot Study.

**Trial ID:** [NCT05741151](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05741151)

## Key Facts

- **Phase:** NA
- **Status:** RECRUITING
- **Study Type:** INTERVENTIONAL
- **Sponsor:** Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS
- **Target Enrollment:** 18 participants
- **Start Date:** 2023-01-01
- **Completion Date:** 2025-12-31
- **Conditions:** Parkinson Disease
- **Interventions:** PET-Neck Parkinsonian patients
- **Intervention Types:** DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

## Summary For Families

The team wants to find out whether the peripheral catecholaminergic system in the neck, meaning the norepinephrine-producing nerve endings that reflect autonomic involvement, is damaged in people with Parkinson's, which could help with diagnosis and understanding how the disease spreads. Participants get a PET scan with a tracer that lights up catecholamine nerve terminals in the neck so clinicians can see loss or preservation of those fibers; the scan is diagnostic only and does not change medications or interact with levodopa. Enrollment is for adults 30 to 80 who meet Movement Disorder Society criteria for Parkinson's, excluding people with clear atypical features such as cerebellar signs, vertical gaze palsy, drug-induced parkinsonism, no response to high-dose levodopa, normal presynaptic dopamine imaging, parkinsonism limited to the legs for more than three years, or another diagnosis that better explains the symptoms.

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 30 Years
- **Maximum age:** 80 Years
- **Sex:** ALL

### Full Criteria

```
Inclusion Criteria:

* Patients affected with Parkinson Disease according to the criteria defined by the Movements Disorder Society

Exclusion Criteria:

* Unambiguous cerebellar abnormalities, such as cerebellar gait, limb ataxia, or cerebellar oculomotor abnormalities (eg, sustained gaze-evoked nystagmus, square wave macro jerks, hypermetric saccades)
* Palsy of vertical descending supranuclear gaze or selective slowing of vertical descending saccades
* Diagnosis of probable behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia or primary progressive aphasia, defined according to consensus criteria, within the first 5 years of the disease
* Parkinsonian features limited to the lower limbs for more than 3 years
* Treatment with a dopamine receptor blocker or dopamine-reducing agent at a dose and time consistent with drug-induced parkinsonism
* Absence of observable response to high-dose levodopa despite at least moderate disease severity
* Unequivocal cortical sensory deficit (i.e., graphesthesia, stereognosis with intact primary sensitivities), clear ideomotor apraxia of limbs, or progressive aphasia
* Normal functional neuroimaging of the presynaptic dopaminergic system
* Documentation of an alternative condition known to induce parkinsonism and plausibly related to the patient's symptoms, or, expert medical opinion that, based on the full diagnostic evaluation, believes that an alternative syndrome is more likely than Parkinson Disease
```

## Locations (1)

- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy _(41.8919, 12.5113)_
  - Liverana Lauretti, MD — (CONTACT)
  - Liverana Lauretti, MD — (PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR)

## Central Contacts

- Liverana Lauretti, MD — (CONTACT) — +39 06 3015 5031 — Liverana.Lauretti@policlinicogemelli.it

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT05741151*  
*HTML version: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT05741151*  
*Source data: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05741151*