[Differences in cerebral blood flow following risperidone treatment in children with autistic disorder].
OBJECTIVE
Functional changes in the brains of autistic children due to risperidone treatment and theirs relationship to the symptom clusters are yet unknown. In this autistic disorder case series we aimed to comparatively evaluate the clinical findings before and after risperidone treatment, and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) findings with 99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (HMPAO) brain SPECT.


METHODS
Eleven autistic patients (age range: 6-7 years; 4 girls, 7 boys) received risperidone therapy (1.5-2.5 mg d(-1)) and were followed-up for 3 months. All the patients underwent neurologic examinations, psychometric examinations, and SPECT imaging, both at the start of risperidone treatment and 3 months after the treatment started. Clinical observations, and the observations of parents and teachers were recorded. These results were compared with cerebral perfusion indices obtained from SPECT data.


RESULTS
After 3 months of treatment changes in rCBF were observed in various regions and to varying degrees. We observed relationships between clinical symptoms and pre-therapy rCBF findings, and between clinical improvement and rCBF changes.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings in the present case series are the first to demonstrate a relationship between clinical improvement and regional perfusion patterns after risperidone treatment. We think that these findings may contribute to the understanding of the neurofunctional mechanisms and hypothetical models of autism.
Ozdemir
Dilşad Foto
DF
Hacedttepe U Tip Fak., Cocuk Ruh Sağliği ve Hastaliklari AD, T.C.S.B. Ankara Onkoloji Eğitim ve Araştirma Hastanesi, Nükleer Tip Kl., Ankara. dilsad_ozdemir@yahoo.com
Karabacak
Neşe Ilgin
NI
Akkaş
Burcu
B
Akdemir
Ozgür
O
Unal
Fatih
F
Senol
Selahattin
S
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D002648:Child; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000098:blood supply; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D018967:Risperidone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019690:Technetium Tc 99m Exametazime; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D019690:Technetium Tc 99m Exametazime; D018967:Risperidone