Evaluation of the posterior flow study in brain scintigraphy.

To evaluate the usefulness of the posterior cerebral flow study, a prospective study was instituted. Of 32 adult patients examined for presumed posterior disease, 17 were found to have a positive posterior flow study that yielded information not available from the anterior study. Indications for posterior flow studies include posterior parietal, occipital, and posterior fossa tumors, posteriorly located arteriovenous malformations, Paget's disease involving occipital bone, posterior cerebral infarcts, and sagittal sinus occlusions. Our experience indicates that the posterior flow study is a valuable adjunct in those patients carefully screened for suspected posterior cerebral disease.