Regional cerebral blood flow and glucose metabolism in Sjögren's syndrome.
Involvement of the brain is one of the most important complications of Sjögren's syndrome (SS). However, diagnosis of brain involvement in SS patients is difficult due to the lack of effective imaging methods. In this study, we compared two updated brain imaging modalities, 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) PET and 99mTc-hexamethyl propyleneamine oxime (HMPAO) SPECT, in SS patients with neuropsychiatric manifestations, to detect glucose metabolism of the brain and regional cerebral blood flow.


METHODS
Sixteen primary female SS patients with normal brain MRI findings were enrolled in this study.


RESULTS
Technetium-99m-HMPAO SPECT findings were abnormal in 13 (81%) patients. Parietal and temporal lobes were the most common areas of brain involvement. Fluorine-18-FDG PET findings were abnormal in 3 (19%) patients. Temporal lobes were the most common areas of brain involvement.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that brain HMPAO SPECT has better correlation with clinical manifestations than brain FDG PET or CT/MRI.
Kao
C H
CH
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Republic of China.
Ho
Y J
YJ
Lan
J L
JL
ChangLai
S P
SP
Chieng
P U
PU
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism; D019690:Technetium Tc 99m Exametazime; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D019690:Technetium Tc 99m Exametazime; D005947:Glucose