TC-99M HMPAO SPECT BRAIN IMAGING OF GILLES-DE-LA-TOURETTES SYNDROME

Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder. Its onset is characteristically during childhood and it is manifested by the ongoing presence of multiple motor and vocal tics. Additional disturbances that may be evident include attention deficit, obsessive compulsive and manic depressive symptoms, as well as learning disorders. Although CT and MRI structural brain studies reveal no consistent abnormalities in patients with Tourette's syndrome, the use of PET imaging has suggested that regional CNS physiologic aberrations can be identified in this condition. In this report, the use of Tc-99m HMPAO SPECT in an 11-year-old girl with Tourette's syndrome demonstrates hypoperfusion in the left basal ganglial region.