Alteration of Regional Cerebral Blood Flow in Cortical Dysplasia during Infancy

Abstract

Cerebral blood flow SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) findings of cortical dysplasia in adults often show hypoperfusion. On the other hand, there have only been occasional reports of hyperperfusion. A few studies have reported cerebral blood flow at the site of cortical dysplasia in children. In this study, we performed SPECT scanning of the brain to assess cerebral blood flow, and EEG (electroencephalography) at the site of cortical dysplasia in 4 children, to assess changes over time. Although hyperperfusion was observed at the site of cortical dysplasia during early infancy in all cases, it changed to hypoperfusion over time in most cases or to isoperfusion in some cases. These observations suggested that the assessment needed extra attention taking into account age in months. In addition, cerebral hyperperfusion during early infancy may indicate cortical dysplasia at the hyperperfusion site. While cortical dysplasia cannot be detected by MRI in some cases because of insufficient brain myelinization during early infancy, this study suggested that the SPECT study of cerebral blood flow could contribute to an early diagnosis.