Regional cerebral blood flow in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with or without definite n europsychiatric symptoms/signs were studied. Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) hexame thylpropylenamine (HMPAO) brain images were used to detect basal ganglion a nd cerebral cortex regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in patients with SLE with brain involvement. One hundred nine female patients with SLE were inv estigated using Tc-99m HMPAO brain images with fan-beam single-photon emiss ion computed tomography (SPECT) and surface three-dimensional (3D) display. These patients were separated into 2 subgroups: group 1, 74 cases with def inite neuropsychiatric symptoms/signs; and group 2, 35 cases without any ne uropsychiatric symptoms/signs. Fan-beam SPECT demonstrated unilateral or bi lateral hypoperfusion of basal ganglia or thalamus in 22% and 9% of patient s in groups 1 and 2, respectively. Local hypoactivity anomalies were found in the brain cortex of 89% and 20% of patients in groups 1 and 2, respectiv ely, using surface 3D display of the brain. In either group 1 or group 2 pa tients, parietal and frontal lobes are the most common areas and cerebellum and thalamus are the least common areas of brain involvement, respectively . This study suggests that in comparison with traditional brain imaging tec hniques, Tc-99m HMPAO brain imaging with fan-beam SPECT in combination with surface 3D display may provide objective information for detection of anom alies of rCBF in patients with SLE.