Probable cerebellar abnormality on N-isopropyl-(iodine-123)-p-iodoamphetamine single photon emission computed tomography scans in an epileptic patient receiving long-term high-dose phenytoin therapy.

Quantitative assessment of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was performed in a 22-year-old man with intractable temporal lobe epilepsy on long-term high-dose phenytoin (PHT) therapy, using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with N-isopropyl-(iodine-123)-p-iodoamphetamine. In all the SPECT scans repeated three times with changes in the PHT dose, absolute rCBF values were lower in most of the cerebral and cerebellar regions measured, as compared with 5 normal subjects matched for sex and age, and 22 normal subjects including the 5 men. Both the cerebellar to frontal rCBF ratio and cerebellar to cerebral rCBF ratio in the patient persistently showed low values, probably reflecting abnormal relative cerebellar hypoperfusion, whereas X-ray computed tomography and magnetic resonance brain imaging showed no abnormal findings. However, this probable cerebellar abnormality on SPECT was to some degree reversible with decreases in the PHT dose. These results suggest the utility of SPECT scans for early detection of cerebellar abnormalities known to be often present in epileptic patients, and imply a risk of long-term high-dose PHT therapy.