Research progress of 6-[18F]fluoro-L-dopa PET/CT imaging

6-[18F]fluoro-L-dopa (18F-DOPA) is a levodopa analogue. 18F-DOPA PET/CT imaging is considered as an ideal tool in the diagnosis and evaluation of Parkinson′s disease, brain tumors, pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma, neuroblastoma, gastrointestinal carcinoid, medullary thyroid cancer and congenital hyperinsulinemia. This paper reviews the synthesis, mechanism of localization, imaging procedures, clinical indications and research advances of 18F-DOPA. Key words: Levodopa; Fluorine radioisotopes; Positron-emission tomography; Tomography, X-ray computed; Trends