BRAIN BLOOD-FLOW ABNORMALITIES ASSOCIATED WITH ORAL COCAINE USE

Single photon emission tomography (SPECT) is the prototypical tool for measuring cerebral blood flow (CBF) in discrete areas of the brain. C ompared with when a male 'crack' cocaine user received placebo, oral c ocaine (1 mg/kg) ingestion was associated with non-uniformity of overa ll CBF with hypoperfusion of discrete brain regions, particularly of t he frontal, temporo-parietal, basal ganglia, and thalamic areas. While these results should be viewed as preliminary, they do suggest that o ral cocaine use may be associated with CBF abnormalities in 'crack' us ers.