Single photon emission computed
tomography with iodoamphetamine-123 and neuropsychological
studies in long-term abstinent
alcoholics.
Ten long-term abstinent alcoholics (mean abstinence = 7.7 years)
were compared with 13 recently detoxified substance-dependent
inpatients (mean abstinence = 25 days) and 8 nonalcoholic control
subjects on global end regional measures of cortical cerebral blood
flow (CBF), and on neuropsychological measures. CBF was assessed
using 123iodoamphetamine (IMP) single photon emission computed
tomography (SPECT) under conditions of behavioral challenge (Raven's
Progressive Matrices). CBF and neuropsychological test performance
were worse in the recently detoxified inpatients. Of greater
interest, there was a dissociation in the long-term abstinent group,
which, while neuropsychologically indistinguishable from controls,
showed significantly decreased mean cortical IMP uptake. We conclude
that there may be persistent physiologic abnormalities in long-term
abstinent alcoholics who have achieved full behavioral recovery.
Smoking on the day of SPECT scanning was also identified to be a
significant confound to understanding CBF changes in alcoholism.
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