Tc-99-HmPAO SPECT in 13 patients with classic lissencephaly

In this study, technetium-99 (Tc-99)-hexamethylpropyleneamine-oxine single- photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was performed on 13 children wi th classic lissencephaly (nine with epileptic seizures, four without seizur es). Focal or multifocal hypoperfusions were observed in 12 patients, The h ypoperfused areas observed on SPECT scanning did not correlate with the loc alization of agyric-pachygyric regions in all patients. The distribution of perfusion abnormalities by SPECT and the localization of agyria-pachygyria as detected by magnetic resonance imaging did not correlate strongly. All nine patients with seizures and three of the four patients without seizures had focal or multifocal cerebral blood flow abnormalities on the SPECT sca ns. The presence of brain perfusion abnormalities detected by SPECT and the occurrence of epileptic seizures did not have a significant relationship. These results suggest that the role of SPECT studies in classic lissencepha ly is not clearly defined. More sophisticated methods are needed to clarify the correlation between structural and functional abnormalities of patient s diagnosed with lissencephaly, (C) 2000 by Elsevier Science Inc. All right s reserved.