Effect of cilostazol on cerebral blood flows in chronic stage of cerebral circulation

In order to find out the difference between cilostazol and ticlopidine hydrochloride in the cerebral vasodilating effect in the chronic stage of cerebral infarction, cerebral blood flows were measured while the patients were on ticlopidine hydrochloride and after ticlopidine hydrochloride was switched to cilostazol. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was performed using Prism 2000XP gamma camera system. Ultrasound examinations of the carotid artery was performed using Ultramark 9. The blood flows in the frontal white matter, temporal cortex and occipital cortex after cilostazol were significantly higher than those before cilostazol. The peak systolic velocity, time-averaged peak velocity and volume flow after cilostazol were significantly higher than those before cilostazol. The total cholesterol, triglyceride and apolipoprotein B concentrations after cilostazol were significantly lower than those before cilostazol. The present study suggests that cilostazol has better influence on cerebral circulation than ticlopidine hydrochloride in the chronic stage of cerebral infarction.