CEREBRAL BLOOD-FLOW IN SNEDDON SYNDROME

Sneddon syndrome is defined as a clinical entity consisting of livedo racemosa generalisata (LRG) and cerebrovascular lesions, which often l ead to physical and mental handicaps. Four patients with LRG and the s uspected diagnosis of Sneddon syndrome had HMPAO-SPECT studies. The pa tients underwent CT and/or MR brain imaging and three patients had Dup lex sonography of the cerebral arteries (TCD). Brain SPECT was abnorma l in all patients, whereas CT/MRI revealed a cerebral lesion in only o ne patient and all TCD studies were normal. HMPAO-SPECT is valuable in detecting disturbed regional cerebral blood flow before irreversible ischemic insults occur, thus allowing the diagnosis of Sneddon syndrom e at an early stage.