Evaluation of Brain Perfusion with Radionuclide Imaging in Dementia Patients

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the perfusion in the affected brain lobes with radionuclide imaging in patients with dementia and to contribute to the literature by determining the relationship between the degree of dementia. Methods: In this retrospective study, 44 adult patients were included. The mean age of the patients was 73 (57-87). Twenty-three (52.3%) of these were female. All patients underwent mini-mental state test, neurological examinations and radionuclide brain perfusion imaging. The areas of interest of the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes and the cerebellum were drawn, respectively, and the cerebellum ratios of the relevant lobes were compared. In this way, brain perfusion index values of lobes were obtained. Results: Brain perfusion in group 1 was higher than in other groups. Groups were also compared in pairs. There was no significant difference in perfusion values in the occipital lobe. There was a significant difference in perfusion between groups 1 and 2 in lobes other than the occipital lobe. This was also the case for Groups 1 and 3. When group 2 with early dementia symptoms, and group 3 with moderate dementia were compared, there was a significant difference between the perfusion values of only the right and left frontal lobes. Conclusion: Early diagnosis is very important in progressive dementia. Clinical tests are successfully applied to categorize patients. Evaluation of brain perfusion and metabolism with functional radionuclide imaging is significant in guiding the treatment and evaluating the success of the treatment.