Technetium 99m ethylcysteinate dimer single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) during intellectual stress test in children and adolescents with pure versus comorbid attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Abstract

Children and adolescents with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV) diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can have comorbid conditions such as conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (comorbid type). The purpose of our study was to compare the pattern of regional cerebral perfusion in these two groups of children with ADHD during a computerized performance test. Nineteen children and adolescents were enrolled in the study. Seven boys and one girl with pure ADHD (group 1: mean age 12 years, range 9-16 years) and nine boys and two girls with comorbid ADHD (group 2: mean age 11 years, range 8-16 years) were studied by single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The patients were not receiving any medication for at least 48 hours prior to the study. All patients were injected with 99mTc-ethylcysteinate dimer while doing a computerized performance test. Nine age-matched control children (five boys and four girls, mean age 12 years, range 9-17 years) with a normal brain SPECT served as controls. All patients in group 2 showed significantly decreased perfusion in the temporal lobes (P < .005). Five patients had decreased frontal lobe perfusion. Additionally, two patients in group 2 had decreased perfusion in the basal ganglia (not significant). Four of eight patients in group 1 had decreased frontal lobe perfusion (not significant). In addition, two patients had bilateral temporal lobe abnormalities, whereas two patients had a normal SPECT. Three patients in group 1 also had decreased basal ganglia perfusion. In contrast to previous studies of brain perfusion in ADHD that focused mainly on frontal and prefrontal cortical abnormalities, our study demonstrates that temporal lobe perfusion abnormalities are more common in patients with the comorbid type of ADHD. We postulate that these findings can have therapeutic implications and explain the decreased response to stimulants in this group of patients.