Abstract
Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) by 123I-IMP SPECT was measured before and 2.8, 10.3 months during medication of bifemelane hydrochloride in 10 patients with cerebrovascular diseases and compared with 5 control patients without medication. Semiquantitative rCBF indices of asymmetry and redistribution (AI, RI) were calculated from mean regional counts/pixel of each region of interest (ROI) in the early and delayed images of IMP SPECT. Before medication, no significant differences of RI and AI were observed between patients with and without medication of bifemelane hydrochloride. Significantly (p<0.05) higher RI was observed in the second measurement 2.8 months in mean during medication of bifemelane hydrochloride, while AI was less in patients medicated with bifemelane hydrochloride. In the third measurement 10.3 months in mean during medication of bifemelane hydrochloride, RI was kept to be higher than that in the second measurement of the control patients without medication. The ratio of the number of ROI, where the redistribution being observed, was significantly (p<0.05) higher in patients medicated than in control patients. From the results, medication of bifemelane hydrochloride might keep the redistribution phenomenon, which may indicate reversible cerebral ischemia, more persistently and intensively in patients with cerebrovascular diseases.
