Cerebral blood flow changes in patients with conversion disorder

We evaluated regional cerebral blood flow in five patients with conversion disorder (three females, two males, mean age±S.D.: 29.8±9.5 years) with astasia-abasia. The patients underwent single photon emission computed tomography after the injection of 555 MBq of [ 99mTc]hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime. Uptake ratios between areas of decreased perfusion and normal brain regions were considered significantly decreased when there was a change ≥10%. Four of the five patients had left temporal and one patient had left parietal perfusion decreases. Uptake ratios ranged from 0.72 to 0.88 (mean±S.D.: 0.81±0.08). Our findings suggest that alterations in regional brain perfusion may accompany conversion symptoms. Functional imaging may therefore offer a means of elucidating the neural correlates of conversion disorder.