Concordance of inhalation rCBFs with clinical evidence of cerebral ischemia.

Using the 133-Xenon inhalation technique, cerebral blood flow (CBF) and hemispheric blood flow (HBF) were determined serially in 45 patients with acute stroke undergoing pharmacologic trials and in 8 transient ischemic attacks (TIA) schedules for superficial temporal-middle cerebral artery anastomoses. Both patient populations had lower blood flow than a control group of similar ages. Patients in both populations with lateralized clinical signs demonstrated an asymmetry in HBF which corresponded to their clinical signs. In the stroke population, the trend we expected over time toward development of asymmetrical HBF as the non-infarcted hemisphere recovered from diaschisis did not appear.