Corpus callosum atrophy and cerebral blood flow in chronic alcoholics

The corpus callosum atrophy and cerebral blood flows were investigated in chronic alcoholics without Marchiafava-Bignami disease. Fifteen cases of chronic alcoholics and 15 age-matched healthy controls were studied. The sagittal plane of magnetic resonance imaging of the head was scanned into a computer and the corpus callosum was measured and the callosal index was calculated. Cerebral blood flows were measured using stable xenon computed tomography (CT) method. Regional cerebral blood flows in the frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital cortex, frontal, temporal and occipital white matter, caudate nucleus, putamen and thalamus were measured. The corpus callosum area, the thickness of the genu, the thickness of the trunk, the thickness of the splenium, and the callosal index were significantly smaller in the chronic alcoholic group than in the healthy control group. Blood flows in the cerebral cortex, thalamus and putamen were significantly lower in the chronic alcoholic group than in the healthy control group. Significant positive correlations were present between the corpus callosum atrophy and the cerebral cortex blood flows. Corpus callosum atrophy and decreased cerebral blood hows may be seen in chronic alcoholics without Marchiafava-Bignami disease. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science BN. All rights reserved.