A new prognostic index--leucocyte infiltration--in human cerebral infarcts by 99Tcm-HMPAO-labelled white blood cell brain SPECT.

Twenty-six patients with acute cerebral infarction were imaged by 99Tcm-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (HMPAO)-labelled white blood cell brain (Tc-WBC) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The regions of interest were equally placed in the whole hemispheres of both sides with summation of all transaxial slices in the Tc-WBC SPECT. The asymmetric indices (AI) were calculated as 200[[(right - left)]/(right + left)]. Grouping of patients with cerebral infarction was based on activities of daily living (ADL) at outcome. The results showed that the poor outcome patient group had a higher AI of Tc-WBC than that of the other patients (13.0 +/- 3.0 S.E.M. versus 5.4 +/- 1.0 S.E.M., and P less than 0.05 by Wilcoxon rank sum test). In conclusion, the Tc-WBC SPECT may be considered as a new prognostic index to predict patient outcome in human cerebral ischaemic infarctions consistent with newly established ischaemic injury theories.