Investigation of cerebral blood volume measurement

Cerebral blood flow (ml/100 g/min) (CBF) and cerebral blood volume (%) (CBV) were determined in 102 patients (68 men and 34 women; average age, 55.6 years) with diagnostic CBF accident. CBF was obtained by xenon inhalation computed tomography (Xe CT) and transit time (TT) by perfusion CT. CBV was calculated under the expression CBV=CBF x TT. The patients were divided into three categories: mild (outpatient), moderate (inpatient), and serious (dead), and CBF and CBV were compared between categories. On regions of interest (ROI) in the thalamus, the value for mild cases was 58.8±10.4 ml/100 g/min (CBF) and that for moderate cases was 40.2±19.4, a significant difference. In serious cases, CBV was decreased in the thalamus, but there was no difference in CBF between mild and moderate cases. CBV was useful for determining prognosis in severe cases of diagnostic CBF accident. (author)