Open AccessFrontal cerebral blood flow is impaired in patients with heart transplantation
Author(s) -
Burra Patrizia,
Senzolo Marco,
Pizzolato Gilberto,
Tursi Vincenzo,
Livi Ugolino,
Chierichetti Franca,
Dam Mauro
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
transplant international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.998
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1432-2277
pISSN - 0934-0874
DOI - 10.1111/j.1432-2277.2002.tb00200.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cerebral blood flow , transplantation , cardiology , single photon emission computed tomography , perfusion , cerebral perfusion pressure , heart transplantation , liver transplantation
Patients with cardiovascular disease have cognitive function disturbances that are still evident after heart transplantation (HT). The aim of this study was to evaluate cerebral function in transplant patients and to assess whether cyclosporine therapy was responsible for cerebral abnormalities 1 year after transplantation. Six HT patients, eight liver transplant (LT) patients, and ten age‐matched healthy controls underwent regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) assessment by the 99m Tc‐hexamethyl‐propylene‐amineoxime ( 99m Tc‐HM‐PAO) single‐photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) technique. The rCBF was correlated with cyclosporine blood levels. rCBF in HT and LT patients was similar to that of controls in all regions assayed, except for the frontal inferior region of HT patients, where it was significantly lower than in controls. No correlations between rCBF and cyclosporine blood levels were found in either HT or LT patients. In conclusion, the cerebral abnormalities seen in patients after HT but not after LT may be due to long‐standing cerebral hypoperfusion resulting from severe heart disease, whereas cyclosporine does not account for such functional alterations.