Computer-aided intrapatient comparison of brain SPECT images: the gray-level normalization issue applied to children with epilepsy.

Unlabelled: A tool was developed for automated intrapatient comparison of brain SPECT images, with specific emphasis on gray-level normalization.

Methods: Ictal and interictal (99m)Tc-ethyl cysteinate dimer SPECT images were acquired for 6 children with partial epilepsy (age range, 2-10 y). For each patient, 3-dimensional rigid geometric ictal-to-interictal image registration optimizing different classic criteria (correlation coefficient, ratio uniformity) in a multiscale translation-rotation 6-parameter space was first performed.

The role of spironolactone in the treatment of patients with refractory hypertension.

Background: Hypertension is resistant to pharmacologic therapy in 5% to 10% of patients. The current study tested whether addition of spironolactone to the treatment of patients with refractory hypertension would lead to adequate blood pressure (BP) control.

Methods: Among 520 patients who were referred for treatment of hypertension to one medical clinic from 1997 to 1999, a total of 25 patients who met the inclusion criteria of refractory hypertension were prospectively included in this study.