Clinical applications of brain spect with N-isopropyl-123I-p-iodoamphetamine

Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with N-isopropyl-123I-p-iodoamphetamine (IAMP-I-123) was used for 250 patients suffering from brain disorders, comprising brain tumours (36), normal-pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) (23), cerebrovascular pathologies (127) and partial epilepsy (64). Brain tumours were found to be hypoactive, whatever the grade and nature. Frontal hypoactivity was found in NPH patients, and IAMP-I-123 perfusion was improved after cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) lumbar drainage, giving a good predictive criterion of clinical outcome after CSF diversion. For cerebrovascular disorders, it was possible to obtain with IAMP-I-123 SPECT larger pictures of hypoactive areas than the pictures of hypodense lesions obtained with X-ray CT scans; other hypoactive areas that could not be observed with CT were also delineated by IAMP-I-123 SPECT. The hypoactive areas found in constituted infarctions can present two types of kinetics - those which are 'persistent' (still present on delayed scans performed 5 h after IAMP-I-123 injection) and those which disappear with time, thereby suggesting hypofunctional parenchyma without tissue impairment. IAMP-I-123 SPECT was proved to be useful in assessing ischaemia, especially in reversible ischaemia patients, by defining the affected arterial territory and guiding complementary arteriographic exploration in view of surgical procedures. IAMP-I-123 SPECT was able to accurately delineate the affected parenchymal areas. It could also be of help in the follow-up of the efficiency of drug therapy and surgery, and it can be regarded as a good predictive criterion for stroke rehabilitation. The results obtained with IAMP-I-123 indicate that the lesional and epileptogenic areas in epileptic patients are hypoactive. The localization of these territories by IAMP-I-123 SPECT correlates well with other, more accurate, neuroradiological and stereotactic techniques. (author)