Olfactory function evaluated by SPECT

Few articles on neuroimaging techniques in the study of central and periphe ral olfactory pathways are present in the literature. By Single Photon Emis sion Computed Tomography (SPECT), cortical perfusion increment after sensor ial stimulation can be evaluated objectively. In the present research, 10 h ealthy adults underwent SPECT by CER.TO.96 cel-ebr nl tomograph, before and after olfactory stimulation with lavender-water. A variable degree of cort ical activation was detected in all patients. Gyrus rectus (+24.5%), orbito -frontal cortex (right +26.6%, left +25.6%), and superior temporal (right 9.9%, left +5.5%) cortical was were always activated A slight perfusion inc rease was present in middle temporal (right +3.2%, left +2.1%) and parieto- occipital (right +0.4%, left +2%) regions. Five patients affected by posttr aumatic anosmia were also investigated they showed a perfusion increment ma rkedly inferior to 0.5% in every olfactory area. SPECT is a rather diffused , easily performed technique which yields objective semi-quantitative infor mation on brain perfusion. Hence, it can be regarded as a promising contrib ution in the fields of smell neurophysiology, clinical olfactometry, and me dicolegal queries.