Results of brain perfusion Temp in acute ischaemic stroke

Perfusion SPECT allows immediate evaluation of cerebral ischaemia during the acute phase of stroke. Its prognostic value has been demonstrated by several studies. This prognostic value increases in comparison to clinical evaluation alone when injection is performed early after the first neurological signs. The classical three patterns fist described on PET studies by Marchal and Baron are also seen using SPECT: (pattern I) severe irreversible ischaemia with poor prognosis, (pattern III) normal study due to spontaneous reperfusion with complete clinical recovery and (pattern II) ischaemic penumbra with unpredictable prognosis. Two recent studies prove that SPECT can identify with high accuracy the extreme hemodynamic situations which are on one hand spontaneous re-perfusions (100 % sensitivity and specificity) and on the other hand the 'malignant middle cerebral artery infarctions' (82 % sensitivity and 98 % specificity). Therefore early SPECT is a valid tool to select stroke patients for thrombolytic therapy. (author)