TC-99M HIMPAO BRAIN SPECT IN FRONTAL-CORTEX DYSFUNCTION - A CASE OF SUBCORTICO-CORTICAL DIASCHISIS

Brain perfusion SPECT imaging was performed in a young patient who dev eloped an organic personality disorder (DSM-III-R criteria). Three yea rs earlier he had experienced brain trauma. An MRI showed a residual p orenchepalic cyst secondary to a hemorrhagic lesion in the putamen and caudate nucleus, and no alterations were found in the frontal cortex, Brain SPECT demonstrated a marked decrease of rCBF in the tight front al cortex, This finding may indicate the presence of a phenomenon of i psilateral subcortico-cortical diaschisis that could explain the clini cal frontal syndrome of the patient. In this case, the HMPAO-SPECT was the only neuroimaging technique that demonstrated frontal cortex dysf unction.