Effect of early pregnancy on maternal regional cerebral blood flow.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of early pregnancy on maternal regional cerebral blood flow.


METHODS
We studied 10 pregnant women at 7 to 19 weeks' gestation by the xenon 133 washout technique by means of single-photon emission computed tomography the day before the abortion was induced and then again at a mean of 42.8 days after the abortion.


RESULTS
Blood flow in the cerebral hemispheres decreased after the abortion, with a decline of 8.1% (p < 0.001). Each regional decrease was as follows: 7.6% (p < 0.01) in the frontal lobe, 9.1% (p < 0.01) in the temporal lobe, 12.9% (p < 0.001) in the parietal lobe, 9.8% (p < 0.01) in the basal ganglia, and 16.7% (p < 0.001) in the cerebellum. There was no significant difference in blood flow in the occipital lobe before versus after the abortion.


CONCLUSIONS
Maternal regional cerebral blood flow was increased in early pregnancy compared with the nonpregnant state, except in the occipital lobe.
Ikeda
T
T
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Miyazaki Medical College, Japan.
Ikenoue
T
T
Mori
N
N
Nagamachi
S
S
Jinnouchi
S
S
Futami
S
S
Hoshi
H
H
Watanabe
K
K
D000328:Adult; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D014980:Xenon Radioisotopes
D014980:Xenon Radioisotopes