Objective: The purpose of the study was to compare regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) in schizophrenic patients never treated with psychotropic drugs (drug-naive) and in schizophrenic patients free from drugs for various amounts of time. Method: Seventeen schizophrenic patients (nine who were drug naive and eight who had been drug free for at least 3 weeks) and 12 healthy volunteers were included in the study. Regional cerebral perfusion was studied with the use of a head-dedicated, high-resolution single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) system. Cerebral SPECT scans were performed with technetium-99m-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime as a tracer. Regional CBF was measured as a ratio of regional tracer uptake to either cerebellar or whole brain tracer uptake. Results: When the cerebellum was taken as the reference region, the drug-naive patients showed a significant bilateral reduction of perfusion in the mesial, dorsolateral, and basal prefrontal cortex, in the temporal cortex, and in the subcortical gray structures: thalamus, caudate nucleus, and putamen/pallidum complex. No significant differences emerged in the comparison between the drug-free patients and the healthy subjects. With correction for whole brain activity, some of the differences that had been found disappeared, but a significant hypoperfusion persisted in the basal ganglia and thalamus of the drug-naive, but not the drug-free, patients. Few correlations between symptom presentation and regional CBF perfusion were observed in the schizophrenic Patients. Conclusions: These results suggest a pattern of cerebral hypoperfusion in schizophrenic patients never treated with neuroleptics that was not detectable in patients who had undergone various periods of pharmacological washout.

High-resolution SPECT study of regional cerebral blood flow in drug-free and drug-naive schizophrenic patients / A. Vita, S. Bressi, D. Perani, G. Invernizzi, G.M. Giiobbio, M. Dieci, M. Garbarini, A. Del Sole, F. Fazio. - In: THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY. - ISSN 0002-953X. - 152:6(1995 Jun), pp. 876-882.

High-resolution SPECT study of regional cerebral blood flow in drug-free and drug-naive schizophrenic patients

G. Invernizzi;A. Del Sole;
1995

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the study was to compare regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) in schizophrenic patients never treated with psychotropic drugs (drug-naive) and in schizophrenic patients free from drugs for various amounts of time. Method: Seventeen schizophrenic patients (nine who were drug naive and eight who had been drug free for at least 3 weeks) and 12 healthy volunteers were included in the study. Regional cerebral perfusion was studied with the use of a head-dedicated, high-resolution single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) system. Cerebral SPECT scans were performed with technetium-99m-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime as a tracer. Regional CBF was measured as a ratio of regional tracer uptake to either cerebellar or whole brain tracer uptake. Results: When the cerebellum was taken as the reference region, the drug-naive patients showed a significant bilateral reduction of perfusion in the mesial, dorsolateral, and basal prefrontal cortex, in the temporal cortex, and in the subcortical gray structures: thalamus, caudate nucleus, and putamen/pallidum complex. No significant differences emerged in the comparison between the drug-free patients and the healthy subjects. With correction for whole brain activity, some of the differences that had been found disappeared, but a significant hypoperfusion persisted in the basal ganglia and thalamus of the drug-naive, but not the drug-free, patients. Few correlations between symptom presentation and regional CBF perfusion were observed in the schizophrenic Patients. Conclusions: These results suggest a pattern of cerebral hypoperfusion in schizophrenic patients never treated with neuroleptics that was not detectable in patients who had undergone various periods of pharmacological washout.
dorsalateral prefrontal cortex ; emission computed-tomography ; brain-function ; medicated schizophrenics ; physiologic dysfunction ; basal ganglia ; hypofrontality ; abnormalities ; perfusion ; hmpao
Settore MED/36 - Diagnostica per Immagini e Radioterapia
Settore MED/25 - Psichiatria
giu-1995
Article (author)
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/175599
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 13
  • Scopus 102
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 92
social impact