Study of cerebral blood flow in patients with cerebral infarction by 133Xe inhalation method--comparison between affected and unaffected hemispheres, and sequential changes

Cerebral blood flow in both hemispheres was studied by the 133Xe inhalation method in 49 patients with cerebral infarction in the unilateral hemisphere. They were classified into three groups by computed tomographic findings as follows; relatively large low density lesion including the cerebral cortex and subcortex (cortical: C group), relatively large low density lesion including the subcortical white matter and basal ganglia (large subcortical: L group), and small low density lesion including the subcortical white matter (small subcortical: S group), respectively. Mean cerebral blood flow (mCBF) in the affected hemispheres was markedly low in C group, moderately low in L group, and slightly low in S group, in all of the examinations. Several cases in C and L groups revealed remarkable changes of mCBF less than one month after the onset. MCBF in both hemispheres was lower in C group than in L and S groups less than one week after the onset. Seven to twelve weeks after the onset, mCBF in the affected hemisphere was lower in C and L groups than in S group, and than in the unaffected hemisphere of C and L groups. There was no difference between mCBF in the affected hemisphere and that in the unaffected hemisphere in most of S group. Sequential changes of mCBF in both hemispheres were divided into seven types in 27 cases, who were examined first less than one week and repeatedly then. However, the sequential changes were classified roughly into two patterns.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)