[Application of SPECT to child neurology]

SPECT is a noninvasive functional neuroimaging method widely used even in child neurology because it can be easily implemented in routine clinical studies. Normal brain perfusion SPECT images in children change with brain maturation and differ from those in adults; for example, the blood flow is lower in the cerebellum than in the cerebrum. New methods have been developed to measure the cerebral blood flow without blood sampling and to perform statistical parametric mapping after spatial normalization of SPECT images to standard brain. They are applied to functional disorders such as autism and learning disorders. Neurotransmission imagings using SPECT are also available to visualize the benzodiazepine and dopamine systems; an early application of insurance is expected.