Serial [F-18]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography after human neuronal implantation for stroke

OBJECTIVE: There is no known effective treatment for chronic stroke. In thi s report, we used positron emission tomography (PET) with [F-18]fluorodeoxy glucose (FDG) to map the metabolic brain response to neuronal cell implanta tion in the first human neuroimplantation trial for stroke. METHODS: Twelve patients (nine men, three women; mean age +/- standard devi ation, 60.8 +/- 8.3 yr) with chronic basal ganglia infarction and persisten t motor deficit underwent FDG PET within 1 week before and 6 and 12 months after stereotactic implantation of human neuronal cells. Serial neurologica l evaluations during a 52-week postoperative period included the National I nstitutes of Health stroke scale and the European stroke scale. RESULTS: Alterations in glucose metabolic activity in the stroke and surrou nding tissue at 6 and 12 months after implantation correlated positively wi th motor performance measures. CONCLUSION: FDG PET performed as part of an initial open-label human trial of implanted LOS-Neurons (Layton BioScience, Sunnyvale, CA) for chronic str oke demonstrates a relationship between relative regional metabolic changes and clinical performance measures. These preliminary findings suggest impr oved local cellular function or engraftment of implanted cells in some pati ents.