Anatomical and functional abnormalities of central nervous system in autistic disorder: a MRI and SPECT study

We present a study of anatomical and functional abnormalities of central nervous system (CNS) from patients with autistic disorder (AD); magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) were used for the investigation. The population studied was composed of 24 patients, 15 (62.5%) males and 9 (17.5%) females, mean age 9 years. MRI was performed in all patients and SPECT was performed in 19 patients; 75% (n=18) of patients had anatomical abnormalities and all patients that realized SPECT had functional abnormalities. Anatomical abnormalities were preferentially noted in corpus callosum (25%), septum pellucidum (15.63%), cerebral ventricules (12.55%), cerebellum (9.38%), temporal lobes (6.25%), occipital lobes (6.25%) and hippocampus (6.25%). Functional abnormalities predominated in frontal lobes (53.13%), temporal lobes (28.13%), parietal lobes (15.63%) and basal ganglia (3.13%). However, anatomical and functional abnormalities of CNS are not priorities for diagnosis, which should have always clinical validation.