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Cerebral blood flow in alcohol withdrawal: relation to severity of dependence and cognitive impairment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2014

E. Hamdi ,
A. Al-Suhaili ,
M. T. Abou-Saleh ,
Y. Amin  and
V. Prais
E. Hamdi*
Affiliation:
Pembury Hospital, Tunbridge Wells, UK and King's College, London, UK
A. Al-Suhaili
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Tawan Hospital, Al-Ain, UAE
M. T. Abou-Saleh
Affiliation:
St George's Hospital Medical School, London, UK
Y. Amin
Affiliation:
West Kent NHS and Social Care Trust, The Pagoda, Maidstone, UK
V. Prais
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Tawan Hospital, Al-Ain, UAE
*
Consultant Psychiatrist, 12 Havering Close, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 4XW, UK. Tel: 0044 1892823535 ext 3621, 01892 518091; Fax: 0044 1892825557.
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Abstract

Background:

Alcohol dependence affects cerebral function in complex, still unsettled ways.

Methods:

Thirty exclusively alcohol-dependent patients in various stages of withdrawal and 25 matched controls were examined for regional uptake of 99mTc-HMPAO in nine homologous regions of the cerebral cortex by single photon emission tomography (SPET). Image analysis reports regional uptake/uptake in homologous hemisphere.

Results:

Alcohol dependence is associated with diminished perfusion in the anterior, and middle frontal regions, and increased perfusion in the posterior temporal regions. Frontal hypoperfusion is related to alcohol withdrawal because it disappears with longer time between imaging, last intake and correlates with a composite index of cognitive impairment at the time. Temporal hyperperfusion persists for longer periods. Severe dependence correlates with both frontal, and temporal altered perfusion.

Discussion:

Alcohol withdrawal leads to redistribution of blood flow favouring the temporal, and more posterior regions of the cortex at the expense of frontal flow.

Keywords

alcohol withdrawalsingle photon emission tomography (SPET)cognitive impairmentcerebral blood flow
Type
Research Article
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , April 2003 , pp. 55 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 Blackwell Munksgaard

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