title: Regional cerebral blood flow and comorbid diagnosis in abstinent opioid addicts.
abstract: Studies using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) have found low cerebral blood flow (CBF) in frontal and parietal cortices in patients with chronic opiate dependence. In the present study, SPECT with 99mTc-HMPAO as tracer was used to compare 27 detoxified opiate addicts with nine healthy control subjects. All the subjects were evaluated with clinical psychiatric (DSM-IV), psychometric and neuropsychological measures. Compared with normal control subjects, the addicts showed a non-significant reduction of whole brain perfusion values. Significant hypoperfusion in the right frontal and left temporal lobes was found in addicts with comorbid depression, and a significant decrease in CBF in the right frontal lobe was observed in those with antisocial tendencies. A significant negative correlation emerged between Depression subscale scores on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and left temporal CBF in the patients. No significant correlations were found, however, between measures of cognition and CBF in opiate addicts. The asymmetrical findings in CBF that characterized the addicts relative to normal control subjects may be more closely related to mood and behavioral traits than to substance abuse, per se.
authors.affiliation: Centro Studi Farmacotossicodipendenze, Servizio Tossicodependenze, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale di Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gerra
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Calbiani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zaimovic
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sartori
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ugolotti
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ippolito
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Delsignore
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rustichelli
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fontanesi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon