Single photon emission computerized tomography in obsessive compulsive disorder: a preliminary study.
Patterns of cerebral perfusion in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder were evaluated using single photon emission computerized tomography. Eleven patients, who satisfied the DSM-III-R criteria and Research Diagnostic Criteria for the disorder, were evaluated using the distribution of 99m-Tc-HMPAO as a radiotracer. The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale was administered to each patient to assess the severity of their symptoms. The images obtained were evaluated qualitatively and semi-quantitatively by a physician in nuclear medicine who was blind to the patients' diagnoses. Eight of the 11 patients demonstrated asymmetric perfusion of the basal ganglia; the left side showed impaired perfusion in six patients.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
B L
BL
Adams
L B
LB
Warneke
A J
AJ
McEwan
B A
BA
Fraser
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon