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SPECT Findings in Mentally Retarded Autistic Individuals

Received August 9, 1999; revised October 1, 1999; accepted November 19, 1999. From the Division of Child Psychiatry, Department of Neuropsychiatry, and Division of Nuclear Medicine, Raúl Carrea Institute of Neurological Research, FLENI, Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa School of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa. Address correspondence to Dr. Starkstein, FLENI, Montañeses 2325, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina; e-mail: ses{at}fleni.org.ar

The authors examined specific deficits of cerebral blood perfusion in autistic patients as measured with [^99mTc]HMPAO single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The study, conducted in an outpatient clinic setting, included a consecutive series of 30 patients with autism and 14 patients with mental retardation but no autism comparable in chronological age, mental age, height, weight, and head circumference. All participants were examined with a comprehensive psychiatric and neuropsychological battery and received a [^99mTc]HMPAO SPECT scan. Autistic patients had significantly lower perfusion than the control group in the following brain regions: right temporal lobe (basal and inferior areas), occipital lobes, thalami, and left basal ganglia. The study demonstrated significant perfusion deficits in specific brain areas of moderately to severely mentally retarded autistic patients.

Key Words: SPECT Studies • Mental Retardation • Autism

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