Brain Scan: SPECT Imaging
What is SPECT Imaging?
Brain SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) imaging is a nuclear medicine study that allows your physician to see how blood is flowing through different areas of your brain. By understanding how blood is perfused throughout the brain, your doctor can make a more accurate diagnosis and you can see the areas of your brain that are not functioning properly. This provides proof that there is good reason to comply with your treatment regimen.
Brain SPECT imaging, utilizing a radiopharmaceutical, provides a "snapshot" of cerebral function. It has been used in the research of neurological and psychiatric disorders for the past decade.
Why do I need a Brain SPECT Scan?
A Brain SPECT scan is an additional tool that supplies objective diagnostic information to your treating clinician that can help provide you with better healthcare. Think of it this way. If you had a broken leg and your doctor wanted to treat you without getting an x-ray how would you feel about the treatment you are receiving? Why should your brain be any different?
I have had other imaging studies including MRI, and/or CT. Why do I need a SPECT scan?
In order to fully evaluate a patient's symptoms, information on both the brain's structure (anatomy) and its blood supply is often necessary. CT and MRI provide detailed information on the structure of the brain. In many patients, however, the symptoms cannot be completely explained by anatomic changes and further investigation may be necessary since MRI and CT studies may appear normal but symptoms remain. Brain SPECT can often give your physician important information on blood flow that would not be available through these other diagnostic techniques. We believe more accurate diagnosis for some patients is made only after evaluating the blood flow to various areas of the brain and comparing these to normal patterns. The changes that may be detected on brain SPECT studies are diagnostic of some diseases. When doctors combine information on your brain's anatomy and function, they have a more complete understanding of what may be causing your symptoms. Brain SPECT can also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of various treatments.
In studying psychiatric patients with brain SPECT imaging, researchers have found cerebral perfusion patterns that often correlate with different psychiatric conditions. Some of the patterns correlate with the research literature findings of SPECT, some correlate with older observations from the neurosurgical, epilepsy, and neurophysiological literature, and some of the findings are uniquely our own.
Unlike CT, MRI, and EEG, which are rarely useful in the management of patients with psychiatric diagnoses, high resolution brain SPECT imaging performed at Brain Matters can be very helpful in the diagnostic process of brain disorders including TBI - Traumatic Brain Injury, Alzheimer's Disease, Seizure Localization, ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Anxiety Disorder.
