Contribution of single photon emission computed tomography to the differential diagnosis of dementia in a memory clinic.

To evaluate the contribution of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to the differential diagnosis of dementia, we studied 48 consecutive patients (median age: 63) with a degenerative or vascular dementia, a 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT imaging, and a diagnostic confirmation (autopsy or genetic mutation). The SPECT scans were visually rated by two nuclear medicine physicians (first blinded to the clinical data, then with the data). Comparisons between clinical diagnoses and/or SPECT imaging and neuropathology were performed.

Pulmonary perfusion scintigraphy: a tool to detect the presence of pulmonary artery involvement in Takayasu's arteritis.

Objective: Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a large-vessel vasculitis that can also involve pulmonary arteries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of pulmonary artery involvement in TA patients using pulmonary perfusion scintigraphy (PPS) and to determine the characteristics of patients with pulmonary artery involvement.

Methods: Twenty-one patients classified as having TA underwent PPS.

Pre-therapy 18F-FDG PET quantitative parameters help in predicting the response to radioimmunotherapy in non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Purpose: Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) is a new treatment option for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Response to RIT currently remains difficult to predict using conventional prognostic factors and could be refined using functional imaging. The goal of this work is to evaluate the value of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) in predicting response to Yttrium 90-labeled monoclonal antibodies for patients with NHL.

Fetal cortical activation to sound at 33 weeks of gestation: a functional MRI study.

Hearing already functions before birth, but little is known about the neural basis of fetal life experiences. Recent imaging studies have validated the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in pregnant women at 38-weeks of gestation. The aim of the present study was to examine fetal brain activation to sound, using fMRI at the beginning of the third trimester of pregnancy.

99mTc-MIBI brain SPECT as an indicator of the chemotherapy response of recurrent, primary brain tumors.

Background: Malignant brain tumors carry a pejorative prognosis and necessitate aggressive therapy. Chemotherapy can be used in cases of tumor recurrence. With limited response rate and potential toxicity to chemotherapeutic treatment in patients with recurrent glioma, reliable response assessment is essential.

Self awareness and speech processing: an fMRI study.

Language production and perception imply motor system recruitment. Therefore, language should obey the theory of shared motor representation between self and other, by means of mirror-like systems. These mirror-like systems (referring to single-unit recordings in animals) show the property to be recruited both when accomplishing and when perceiving a goal-directed action, whatever the sensory modality may be.

Sestamibi technetium-99m brain single-photon emission computed tomography to identify recurrent glioma in adults: 201 studies.

Object: In the follow-up of treated gliomas, CT and MRI can often not differentiate radionecrosis from recurrent tumor. The aim of this study was to assess the interest of functional imaging with (99m)Tc-MIBI SPECT in a large series of 201 examinations.

Method: MIBI SPECT were performed in 81 patients treated for brain gliomas.

Corticobasal degeneration and Parkinson's disease assessed by HmPaO SPECT: the utility of factorial discriminant analysis.

The diagnosis of corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is difficult despite the existence of some typical clinical features. Single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) in CBD presents an original pattern (with asymmetric hypoperfusion in pre- and retrorolandic regions) that could facilitate the differential diagnosis of CBD relative to the other degenerative parkinsonian syndromes. The objective of our study was to compare the regional cerebral blood flow measurements studied by SPECT in both CBD and Parkinson's disease (PD) using a multivariate procedure.

Cognitive and SPECT characteristics predict progression of Parkinson's disease in newly diagnosed patients.

Objective: To identify features in cognitive functioning and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in newly diagnosed Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and to determine whether these factors are able to predict the progression of the disease in general and the development of cognitive decline in particular.

Methods: 50 previously treatment-naive PD patients participated in the study. Cognitive assessment and SPECT were performed twice: at the time of diagnosis and then 3 years later.

Technetium-99m sestamibi brain SPECT in the follow-up of glioma for evaluation of response to chemotherapy: first results.

The initial treatment of high-grade glioma often consists of surgery and radiation therapy. Chemotherapy is used in cases of recurrence or after incomplete surgery. Because of the many potential serious side-effects of chemotherapy, early tumour response evaluation is necessary to enable clinicians to adapt the treatment.

Levodopa and bromocriptine in hypoxic brain injury.

Background: Postanoxic encephalopathy is frequent in patients presenting with abrupt cardiac arrest or respiratory failure. Little is known about the effectiveness of oral medications on the cognitive and motor consequences.

Objective: To present data suggesting partial improvement after administration of levodopa/benserazide.

SPECT imaging, clinical features, and cognition before and after low doses of amisulpride in schizophrenic patients with the deficit syndrome.

The aim of the study was to examine the action of low-dose amisulpride (100 mg/d), an atypical antipsychotic from the benzamide class with a high affinity for the D2 and D3 dopamine receptors, given for 4 weeks in 19 schizophrenic patients with the deficit syndrome, in terms of clinical response, modifications in their cognitive performance and changes in brain perfusion values. A secondary objective was to distinguish between primary and secondary deficit, according to Carpenter's definition. Both efficacy and a relatively low rate of side effects of low-dose amisulpride in the deficit forms of schizophrenia were found as expected from earlier placebo-controlled studies.

Regional cerebral blood flow in deficit/nondeficit types of schizophrenia according to SDS criteria.

A relationship between "hypofrontality" and a negative form of schizophrenia is commonly found. The Schedule for the Deficit Syndrome (SDS) provides specific criteria for assessing the presence of negative symptoms, their duration and whether the symptoms are primary or secondary. The purpose of our study was to compare the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) at rest, in 62 deficit and nondeficit schizophrenic patients, according to the SDS criteria (French version).