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.