Single-photon emission tomography with 99mTc-labelled hexamethyl propylene amine oxime in Arab patients with schizophrenia

Twenty-five patients with DSM-IIIR schizophrenia were studied at rest using single-photon emission computerized tomograpy (SPECT) with 99mTc-labelled hexamethyl propylene amine oxime(HMPAO) in comparison with 20 normal controls. All patients were assessed by means of the Psychiatric Diagnostic Interview (PDI). Patients with schizophrenia showed greater right cerebral blood flow (rCBF) than normal controls in all cerebral regions except the right and left anterior frontal regions. However, patients showed a reversed left to right laterality in the anterior frontal regions only. Several symptom scores were predicted by the rCBF: total PDI scores by the greater midfrontal and temporo-occipital, delusions of control by greater left temporo-occipital, and greater duration of illness by left midfrontal, left temporal, right midfrontal, and right perisylvian rCBF. These results suggest generalized cerebral activation in patients with schizophrenia and are discussed in relation to the conflicting results of previ...