Cerebral blood flow changes in patients with conversion disorder.

We evaluated regional cerebral blood flow in five patients with conversion disorder (three females, two males, mean age+/-S.D.: 29.8+/-9.5 years) with astasia-abasia. The patients underwent single photon emission computed tomography after the injection of 555 MBq of [99mTc]hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime. Uptake ratios between areas of decreased perfusion and normal brain regions were considered significantly decreased when there was a change > or = 10%. Four of the five patients had left temporal and one patient had left parietal perfusion decreases. Uptake ratios ranged from 0.72 to 0.88 (mean+/-S.D.: 0.81+/-0.08). Our findings suggest that alterations in regional brain perfusion may accompany conversion symptoms. Functional imaging may therefore offer a means of elucidating the neural correlates of conversion disorder.