[Measures of regional cerebral blood deficit by inhalation of xenon 133: clinical applications].

Multiple measurements of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) after 133 xenon inhalation allowed us to compare results obtained during different forms of migraine and during transient ischaemic attacks, as opposed to a group of normal controls. In normal healthy volunteers (N = 65) classified in decades, there is a stepwise reduction in cortical blood flow (F1) with advancing age (r = .97, p < .0001). The reduction in the slow component of blood flow (F2 congruent to white matter flow) is not significant. In common and classical form of migraine (N = 23)F1 is signifcantly increased during the cephalalgic phase and during the two consectuvie days (p < .01). On the contrary, in accompanied migraine (N = 17), F1 is significantly decreased during the first four days (p < .001) and to a lesser extent from the 4th to the 10th day (N = 5; p < .05). In transient ischaemic attacks (T.I.A.; N = 12) F1 is significantly increased until three weeks after the attack (p < .01). The differences in rCBF in accompanied migraine versus T.I.A. appears to help in the differential diagnosis of clinically difficult cases.