title: Cerebral blood flow in alcohol withdrawal: relation to severity of dependence and cognitive impairment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alcohol dependence affects cerebral function in complex, still unsettled ways.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty exclusively alcohol-dependent patients in various stages of withdrawal and 25 matched controls were examined for regional uptake of 99mTc-HMPAO in nine homologous regions of the cerebral cortex by single photon emission tomography (SPET). Image analysis reports regional uptake/uptake in homologous hemisphere.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Alcohol dependence is associated with diminished perfusion in the anterior, and middle frontal regions, and increased perfusion in the posterior temporal regions. Frontal hypoperfusion is related to alcohol withdrawal because it disappears with longer time between imaging, last intake and correlates with a composite index of cognitive impairment at the time. Temporal hyperperfusion persists for longer periods. Severe dependence correlates with both frontal, and temporal altered perfusion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Alcohol withdrawal leads to redistribution of blood flow favouring the temporal, and more posterior regions of the cortex at the expense of frontal flow.
authors.affiliation: 1Pembury Hospital, Tunbridge Wells, UK and King's College, London, UK.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hamdi
authors.affiliation: 2Department of Nuclear Medicine, Tawan Hospital, Al-Ain, UAE.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Suhaili
authors.affiliation: 3St George's Hospital Medical School, London, UK.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Abou-Saleh
authors.affiliation: 4West Kent NHS and Social Care Trust, The Pagoda, Maidstone, UK.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Amin
authors.affiliation: 2Department of Nuclear Medicine, Tawan Hospital, Al-Ain, UAE.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Prais