SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) in 31 children and adolescents with autism and autistic-like conditions

SPECT with Tc-99m-HM-PAO was used in examining 31 patients with autism and autistic-like conditions. Sixteen of these had autistic disorder/autistic-like conditions with associated epilepsy. The autistic disorder group without epilepsy was relatively high functioning. All 31 patients showed reduction of regional cerebral blood flow in the temporal lobes. There was no clear difference between the groups with and without epilepsy, suggesting that seizure disorder per se could not account for the findings.