[SPECT in reversible symptoms of cerebrovascular diseases]

In 16 patients with reversible symptoms of cerebrovascular disease a HMPAO- and/or IMP-SPECT was performed. 12 of these patients were suffering from TIA, 4 from PRIND. Using HMPAO-SPECT in 8 out of 9 patients with TIA and in 1 of 2 with PRIND a hypoperfusion could be demonstrated; IMP-SPECT showed a pathological pattern in 3 of 5 patients with TIA and in none of 2 patients with PRIND. A semiquantitative evaluation showed a tracer accumulation reduced by 13 +/- 12% (HMPAO) and 8 +/- 7% (IMP), respectively, in the clinically involved hemisphere, compared to the contralateral side. In circumscript SPECT lesions a reduction by 21 +/- 8% (HMPAO) or 17 +/- 7% (IMP) was observed. The interhemispheric ratio from the HMPAO-SPECT showed a significant correlation to that of the 133Xe-rCBF measurement (r = 0.86; p less than 0.001). SPECT was positive in a higher percentage than TCT, Doppler sonography, radioangiography and 133Xe-rCBF measurement. This does not imply a higher specificity or sensitivity, because a slight inhomogeneous SPECT pattern may occasionally be observed even in normal persons.