ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the clinical value of transcranial Doppler ultrasonography(TCD) in detecting cerebral hemooynamic changes at the early stages of cerebrovascular disease in the diabetics.Methods TCD was used to measure the peak wave in the spectra,the pulsatility index(PI) and the mean blood flow velocity(Vm) of each cerebral artery in 142 normotensive type 2 diabetic patients without clinical symptoms of cerebrovascular disease and 62 age and gender matched healthy controls.Results The incidence of cerebral hemodynamic changes detected with TCD was 87.3% in diabetic patients,whose PI for each cerebral artery was significantly higher than those in the controls.Significant increases in the Vm of the extracranial nternal carotid artery,the middle cerebral artery and the basilar artery were detected in the diabetic patients when compared with the controls,suggesting lowered cerebrovascular compliance and smaller vascular diameter in the patients,which leaded to indicate that the pathological changes had spread to the intemal carotid artery and the vertebral artery system.Conclusion TCD can be helpful in detecting cerebral hemodynamic changes at the early stages of cerebrovascular disease in the diabetics.