Scintiscanning with N-isopropyl-p-[123I] iodoamphetamine for detecting cerebral blood flow in patients with ischemic cerebral diseases

Ten patients with cerebral infarction, 7 with suspected infarction, 4 with cerebral hemorrhage, and one with suspected hemorrhage were examined. All patients underwent x-ray CT, some of whom also underwent scintiscanning with N-isopropyl-p-[123I] iodoamphetamine (IMP) and RI angiography using sup(99m)Tc-pyrophosphate. In 9 of the 10 patients with cerebral infarction, scintiscanning with IMP was superior to or equal to the other two modalities in the detection of cerebral ischemia. X-ray CT showed small range of low density area in only 2 of the 7 patients with suspected infarction. In 2 of the 4 patients with cerebral hemorrhage, bleeding lesions 3 cm in diameter in the middle cerebral artery were confirmed on x-ray CT, coinciding with findings of scintiscanning with IMP; and in the other 2 patients in whom small bleeding lesions in the thalamus or internal capsule were observed on x-ray CT, no abnormal findings were observed by scintiscanning with IMP. In one patient with suspected cerebral hemorrhage, x-ray CT alone showed abnormal findings in the right cerebellum. No side effects of IMP were observed. Scintiscanning with IMP is considered useful in detecting ischemic cerebral disease and might be a routine method supplementing x-ray CT and RI angiography. (Namekawa, K.)