[Changes of regional cerebral blood flow in stroke patients assessed by SPECT].

UNLABELLED: The aim of our work was to evaluate changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in patients with TIA and/or completed stroke and localisation of fotopenic foci in basal conditions and, in some cases, after stimulation pharmacological trial with acetazolamide. One hundred and fifty three patients participated in the study--105 with completed stroke and 48 with TIA. Regional CBF (rCBF) was evaluated using a single-headed rotating gamma camera (Diacam, Siemens) with high resolution collimator, after injection of 740 MBq 99mTc-HMPAO (Ceretec, Amersham). Sixteen patients with TIA underwent SPECT at baseline and after injection of acetazolamide (ACZ). Relative regional perfusion was expressed as the ratio of cerebral/cerebellar activity. In the completed stroke population, the perfusion ratios were significantly lower than those of controls and TIA at baseline (p < 0.001) and TIA after ACZ (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: This study shows a significant difference in rCBF in patients with completed stroke and/or TIA and controls. In patients with TIA and rCBF similar to that observed in controls, perfusion deficits may be visible after ACZ injection.