Crossed cerebellar diaschisis in ischemic stroke: a study of regional cerebral blood flow by 133Xe inhalation and single photon emission computerized tomography.
Seventy measurements of CBF were performed in 12 stroke patients by 133Xe inhalation and a rapidly rotating single photon emission computerized tomograph. CBF was measured every other day during the acute phase and at 2- and 6-month follow-up visits. A persistent contralateral cerebellar blood flow depression was evident in five patients with severe hemispheric low flow areas, which correlated with large, hypodense lesions on the computerized tomographic scan. In a sixth patient with a small, deep infarct, a transient crossed cerebellar low flow was observed, while the clinical symptoms persisted. It is concluded from this serial study that crossed cerebellar diaschisis is a common finding in completed stroke. It is probably caused by disconnection of the corticopontine pathways, a disconnection that tends to persist. The phenomenon is in fact less variable than the stroke-related CBF changes in the infarcted hemisphere, in which a period of relative hyperemia is frequently seen.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D002526:Cerebellar Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D014980:Xenon Radioisotopes
D014980:Xenon Radioisotopes