Cerebellar blood flow in methylmercury poisoning (Minamata disease)

We looked at regional cerebellar blood flow in patients with Minamata disea se (MD) using technetium-99m ethyl cysteinate dimer (99m-Tc-ECD). We carrie d out single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) on 15 patients wit h MD (eight men, seven women, aged 51-78 years, mean 70.5 years) and 11 con trol subjects (eight men, three women, aged 62-80 years, mean 72.5 years). Regional. blood flow was measured in the superior, middle, and inferior por tions of the cerebellar hemispheres, and the frontal, temporal and occipita l cerebral lobes. The degree of cerebellar atrophy was assessed on MRI. The re were significant differences in regional blood flow in all parts of the cerebellum between patients and control, but no significant decrease was ob served in the cerebrum. Blood flow was lower in the inferior cerebellum tha n in the other parts. Even in patients without cerebellar atrophy, flow was significantly decreased regional blood flow in the inferior part.