Tc-99m HMPAO brain perfusion SPECT in drug-free obsessive-compulsive patients without depression

The aim of this study was to confirm prior results of brain-imaging studies on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in a sample of Turkish patients, as a cross-cultural study. Tc-99m HMPAO brain perfusion SPECT imaging was per formed in nine drug-free OCD patients without depression and six controls. The patients' Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores were < 16. The severi ty of obsessive-compulsive symptoms was rated with the Yale-Brown Obsessive -Compulsive Rating Scale (YBOCS). Quantitative evaluation of regional cereb ral blood flow revealed that right thalamus, left frontotemporal cortex and bilateral orbitofrontal cortex showed significant hyperperfusion in patien ts with OCD compared with controls. YBOCS scores did not show any correlati on with hyperperfusion in regional cerebral blood flow in these areas. Resu lts of this cross-cultural study may support orbitofrontal and thalamic dys function in OCD in a sample of Turkish patients. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.