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Abstract #2218

Asymmetric Characteristics of Hippocampus Perfusion & Its Response to Physostigmine Challenge in Gulf War Veterans

Xiufeng Li1, Jeffrey Spence2, David M. Buhner3, Robert W. Haley3, Richard W. Briggs1,3

1Radiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States; 2Clinical Sciences, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States; 3Internal Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States


To test for hemispheric laterality of hippocampal abnormalities, the asymmetric characteristics of hippocampus perfusion and its response to physostigmine challenge in veterans with Gulf War Syndromes 1, 2 and 3 and healthy veterans were explored by asymmetry analysis, as expressed in asymmetry index, for measured hippocampus perfusion using arterial spin labeling. The observed hemispheric asymmetries in hippocampus perfusion in the veterans ill with Syndromes 2 and 3 might suggest the laterality of functional impairments. The differences of asymmetric characteristics across syndrome groups may imply distinctive pathological mechanisms.

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