Agyria-pachygyria: cerebral perfusion studies by99mTc-HMPAO

Cerebral perfusion was investigated in three patients with agyria-pachygyria by using99mTc-HMPAO SPECT in order to study the distribution of blood flow. Diffuse cortical hypoperfusion was found in all three infants. The visual cortex was not identifiable in two of the cases. The basal ganglia and cerebellum were prominent by their normal high activity, while tracer uptake was very low in the thalamus. The possible role of improper development of interneuronal connections and abnormal vascular pattern in background of the perfusion defect is discussed.