Symmetries and asymmetries in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) determinations are reported in eleven patients with symptomatic carotid artery occlusive disease. Flourine-18-fluoromethane rCBF values are obtained by means of a noninvasive positron emission tomographic (PET) technique during room air (RA) and following induced hypercapnia (CO2). Areas of abnormal CO2 reactivity predict both the hemodynamic significance of the vascular lesion in question and the areas most vulnerable for ischemic infarction. This data is intended to be preliminary in nature; future expansions of this data base will be made to include rCBF/CO2 estimations, rCBF/glucose metabolism determinations, and rCBF/"reserve" evaluations over time and following brain-specific therapies. Once established, the potential viability and reversibility of these ischemic, uninfarcted or minimally infarcted areas can then be reestablished over time, thus providing a quantitative measure of the natural history of flow/metabolic coupling or uncoupling.