Technetium-99m-HMPAO brain SPECT in Sjögren's syndrome.
Technetium-99m-hexamethylpropylene amine oxime (HMPAO) brain images with fanbeam SPECT, in combination with surface three-dimensional display, were used to detect basal ganglion and cerebral cortex anomalies in Sjögren's syndrome patients.


METHODS
Forty-eight female Sjögren's syndrome patients with normal brain CT or magnetic resonance imaging findings were enrolled in this study and were investigated using 99mTc-HMPAO brain images with fanbeam SPECT and surface three-dimensional display. These patients were separated into two subgroups. Group 1 consisted of 38 patients with definite neuropsychiatric symptoms/signs and Group 2 consisted of 10 patients without any neuropsychiatric symptoms/signs.


RESULTS
Fanbeam SPECT demonstrated unilateral or bilateral hypoactivity of basal ganglia and thalamus in 14% and 0% of patients in Groups 1 and 2, respectively. Using surface three-dimensional display of the brain, local hypoactivity anomalies were found in the brain cortex of 53% and 20% of patients in Groups 1 and 2, respectively. In Group 1 patients, parietal lobes were the most common areas of brain involvement. The cerebellum and thalamus were the least common areas of brain involvement. In Group 2 patients, parietal and temporal lobes were the most common areas of brain involvement.


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that 99mTc-HMPAO brain imaging with fanbeam SPECT, in combination with surface three-dimensional display, is a sensitive tool for detecting regional cerebral anomalies in Sjögren's syndrome patients with and without neuropsychiatric symptoms/signs.
Kao
C H
CH
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Lan
J L
JL
ChangLai
S P
SP
Chieng
P U
PU
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008875:Middle Aged; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000523:psychology; D019690:Technetium Tc 99m Exametazime; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019690:Technetium Tc 99m Exametazime