Long-term follow-up of cerebral blood flow in patients with ruptured cerebral aneurysm.

Abstract

The xenon-133 inhalation technique was used to make three measurements of regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) in 34 patients with ruptured cerebral aneurysm: in the acute period (less than 14 days) after subarachnoid hemorrhage, in the subacute period (15-30 days), and in the chronic period (12-24 months). The hemispheric mean value of initial slope index was used as the mean CBF. The clinical outcomes were classified into good recovery (GR) (24 cases), moderate disability (MD) (5), and severe disability (SD) (5) on the Glasgow Outcome Scale. In all periods, the mean CBF significantly correlated with the outcome. GR patients had the highest mean CBF, MD patients the intermediate mean CBF, and SD patients the lowest mean CBF. GR patients had a near-normal mean CBF by the chronic period, while SD patients showed no significant CBF recovery throughout the course.