Single photon emission computerised tomography in elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease and multi-infarct dementia. Regional uptake of technetium-labelled HMPAO related to clinical measurements.

Single photon emission computerised tomography (SPECT) was used to measure regional brain uptake of technetium-99m hexamethylpropyleneamine oxine (Tc99m-HMPAO) in elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), multi-infarct dementia (MID) and normals (n = 20 in each group). Different patterns of uptake were found between groups when cortical uptake was normalised to cerebellar uptake. Reductions occurred in all regions in AD, being most marked in temporal and posterior parietal areas. Significant correlations were found in AD between memory impairment and decreased temporal uptake bilaterally, and between duration of illness and reduced uptake in most brain regions. MID patients showed higher uptake in the anterior parietal region than did the other groups. A variable comparing anterior to posterior uptake significantly discriminated the two patient groups.