Study on the regional cerebral blood flow in the patients with depressive disorders by ECD/SPECT

Objective To observe the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) abnormalities in the untreated patients with depressive disorders. Methods 99mTc-ECD -brain SPECT imaging was performed in 12 untreated depressive patients diagnosed by CCMD-2-R, who were compared with 19 age-matched normal controls . 99mTc-ECD -brain SPECT data were subjected to SPM. Results SPM showed that the rCBF decreased in the bilateral frontal lobe, the left superior temporal gyrus, the left limbic lobe uncus (Brodmann area 20), the left thalamus mammillary body, the right cingulate and the right putamen. Conclusions The rCBF of the frontal, the temporal and the limbic system decreases dramatically in the patients with depressive disorders.