Single-Photon Tomographic Study of Regional Cerebral Blood Flow in Epilepsy

Abstract
• Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) may be measured with a single-photonemission computed tomograph (SPECT) after inhalation of xenon 133. Our SPECT studies of rCBF in a group of 18 patients with seizure disorders, when compared with studies in 32 normal control subjects, have shown enhanced flow to an active seizure focus and ischemia of brain areas in certain subjects between seizures. Thus, SPECT determination of rCBF has demonstrated a number of findings recently observed with positronemission tomography and may become a useful modality in the study of patients who have epilepsy.