Cerebral SPECT imaging: Impact on clinical management
- Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, New York, NY (United States); and others
Although cerebral SPECT has been reported to be of value in a variety of neurologic disorders, there is limited data available on the value of SPECT relative to clinical management decisions. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of cerebral SPECT imaging on patient management. A total of 94 consecutive patients referred for clinical evaluation with brain SPECT were included in this study. Patients were assigned to one of nine groups depending on the clinical indication for the study. These groups included transient ischemia (16), stroke (20), dementia (18), seizures (5), hemorrhage (13), head trauma (6), arteriovenous malformations (6), encephalopathy (6) and a miscellaneous (4) group. All patients were injected with 99mTc HMPAO in doses ranging from 15 mCi to 22 mCi (555 MBq to 814 MBq) and scanned on a triple headed SPECT gamma camera. Two weeks after completion of the study, a standardized interview was conducted between the nuclear and referring physicians to determine if the SPECT findings contributed to an alteration in patient management. Overall, patient management was significantly altered in 47% of the cases referred. The greatest impact on patient management occurred in the group evaluated for transient ischemia, where a total of 13/16 (81%) of patients had their clinical management altered as a result of the cerebral SPECT findings. Clinical management was altered in 61% of patients referred for evaluation of dementia, 67% of patients evaluated for arteriovenous malformations, and 50% of patients with head trauma. In the remainder of the patients, alteration in clinical management ranged from 17% to 50% of patients. This study demonstrates the clinical utility of cerebral SPECT imaging since in a significant number of cases clinical management was altered as a result of the examination. Long term follow up will be necessary to determine patient outcome.
- OSTI ID:
- 197973
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-940605-; ISSN 0161-5505; TRN: 95:007029-0113
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Vol. 35, Issue Suppl.5; Conference: 41. annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, Orlando, FL (United States), 5-8 Jun 1994; Other Information: PBD: May 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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