Effects of Smoking on Regional Cerebral Blood Flow in Cerebral Vascular Disease Patients and Normal Subjects

Abstract

The chronic effect of smoking on the regional cerebral blood flow (r-CBF) was studied by 133-Xenon inhalation method and described with the Initial Slope Index (ISI). Fifty-two patients as the control group who had no abnormality neurologically or with CT scan, 32 patients with old cerebral infarction and 20 patients with old cerebral hemorrhage were introduced to the present study, and these patients were divided into smokers and non-smokers in each group. Those whose smoking index of 200 or more [(number of cigarettes/day) X (years of smoking history) ≧200] were designated as smokers. ISI values were decreased significantly in smokers than non-smokers in all groups. Mean ISI value of unaffected hemisphere in smokers decreased by 16% in the infarction group and 22% in the hemorrhage group comparing to the non-smokers', respectively. In the control group, mean ISI value of right hemisphere decreased by 15% and left 14% in smokers compared to the non-smokers. The r-CBF values in 44 of the 47 smokers were found to be lower than the expected age matched values in non-smokers. Serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol value in smokers was significantly lower than that in non-smokers. We demonstrated preliminarily that the smoking chronically reduced the r-CBF. Advanced atherosclerosis associated with the smoker was suggested to affect the CBF. © 1987, Tohoku University Medical Press. All rights reserved.