Brain blood flow abnormalities associated with oral cocaine use

Single photon emission tomography (SPECT) is the prototypical tool for measuring cerebral blood flow (CBF) in discrete areas of the brain. Compared with when a male ‘crack’ cocaine user received placebo, oral cocaine (1mg/kg) ingestion was associated with non-uniformity of overall CBF with hypoperfusion of discrete brain regions, particularly of the frontal, temporo-parietal, basal ganglia, and thalamic areas. While these results should be viewed as preliminary, they do suggest that oral cocaine use may be associated with CBF abnormalities in ‘crack’ users.