Three-dimensional display of surface cortical perfusion by SPECT: application in assessing Alzheimer's disease.

Abstract

To better understand cortical perfusion, we developed a method for a three-dimensional display technique with 99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (HMPAO) SPECT. Twelve patients with higher cortical dysfunction due to Alzheimer's disease and 18 age-matched controls were examined. Data acquisition was performed after intravenous injection of 740 MBq of 99mTc-HMPAO. After reconstructing the transaxial images, the three-dimensional images were obtained by modified volume rendering, where the surfaces were displayed in the corresponding colors as the maximum cortical value within a depth of 2 cm. In the control studies, almost all surface cortices were over 60% of the maximum cerebellar value. In Alzheimer's disease patients, areas of perfusion below 60% were detected in the temporo-parietal lesions and frontal lobe lesions in 6 of 12. These findings correlated with the neurological dysfunction. This method provides realistic three-dimensional information about surface cortical perfusion, which was found to be useful in clinical investigations of higher cortical dysfunction due to degenerative or cerebrovascular diseases.