Scanning With Positron-Emitting Radioisotopes

Abstract

More than 4,000 brain scans have been done at the Massachusetts General Hospital during the past seven years in patients suspected of having intracranial disease. In this group there were 146 cases with a history and clinical findings which pointed to the likelihood of occlusive cerebral vascular disease, eg, either (1) the sudden onset of a neurologic deficit followed by stabilization or some degree of recovery; or (2) transient attacks of neurologic deficit, presumably on an ischemic basis. These patients form the basis of the present analysis and are summarized in Table 1. Arteriographic demonstration of an arterial occlusion ensued in 24 cases. Patients with diagnoses of aneurysm, arteriovenous malformation, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and intracerebral hemorrhage are the subject of another report.¹ We have excluded approximately 200 cases with suspected cerebral vascular disease in which the diagnosis was less well established on the basis of the clinical findings. The