[Nicergoline and steal effect in favor of zones of hypoperfusion in cerebral ischemic accidents].

Hemispheric and regional variations of cerebral blood flow (CBF) were studied with the Xenon inhalation technique on 19 patients suffering from cerebral infarcts before and at the end of a 10 mg 'alpha-blocking' Nicergoline perfusion. CBF dynamic images and calculations were performed with a gamma computerized camera. No significant hemispheric CBF modification has been noted after Nicergoline perfusion (30.2 +/- 4.5 ml/min/100 g before perfusion and 31 +/- 5.6 ml/min/100 g at the end of perfusion) but, at the end of perfusion, we noticed a CBF increase on the more ischemic areas (25.7 +/- 5.6 ml/min/100 g before and 29.9 +/- 6.8 ml/min/100 g after). This variation depends on the patients (from +67% to -22%). The more ischemic areas are those with the more important CBF increase. This 'inverse steel effect' is comparable to the effect described by other authors for Vincamine or Piracetam.