Tomographic study of regional cerebral blood flow in ischemic cerebrovascular disease by 81mKr intraarterial infusion and HEADTOME.

The single photon mode of a hybrid emission tomograph, HEADTOME, was used to appraise cerebral blood flow (CBF) by the continuous infusion of 81mKr into the internal carotid artery or the ascending aorta. The study was performed on 32 patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease. The results of the tomographic CBF study were compared with the findings of X-ray computed tomography (CT) and carotid angiography. Twenty-nine patients in the present series showed ischemic areas that correlated better with the localization suggested by the clinical rather than the CT findings. In two patients, CT was negative, whereas the CBF tomogram clearly revealed an ischemic focus. In most of the patients (90.6%), regional ischemia was seen to extend to the normodense brain tissue surrounding the low density areas. Although the method has some limitations, such as its invasiveness, it may be an economical and practical technique for tomographic CBF studies.