A Study on Clinical Significance of Carotid Bruit

Carotid bruit is a physical sign derived from the turbulence of carotid blood flow and has been rgarded as one of the imponant risk factor of ischemic stroke. To estimate a crude prevalence of carotid bruit in ischemic stroke in Korea at present time, and evaluate the correlation of carotid bruit with carotid stenosis and site of ischemic lesion, we investigated the brain imaging studies (computed tomography and / or magnetic resonance imaging)and cerebral angiographict finding of fifty patiens with caoti bruit.Thirty-nine (3.9 %) ot of nine hundred and ninety-six ischemic stroke patients had bruit around the carotid bifurcation. And the other eleven cases who did not have ischemic stroke were detected to have carotid bruit during the routine neurological examination at the bedside.Th presence of infarction in one side of carotid territory was not significantly differentwhether the bruit was heard or not in that side, but the presece of carotid stenosis in angiographY had a tendency to be significantly different by the audible bruit on that side. Carotid bruit does not necessarily reflect the infarction of that side, but can only be used as a predictor of ipsilateral extracranial carotid occlusive disease in this preliminary study. Further extensive prospective study is needed for the exact prevalence of rate and the clinical usefulss of the carotid bruit in Korea.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Parkinson's Disease and Parkinsonian Syndromes

We compared heavily T2W high field MR images of 18 Parkinson's disease (PD group), 8 Parkinsonian syndromes (PS group: progressive supranuclear palsy, OPCA, Shy-Drager syndrome, atypical' parkinsonism), and 20 control patients and exaimined the reported abnormalities (putaminal hypointensity, restoration of the signal intensity of the substantia nigra, narrowing of the pars compacta, brain atrophy) in our patients by 2.0 Tesla MRI. In this study, the narrowing of the signal band from the pars compacta of the substantia nigra was the most valuable index differentiating PD group or PS group from control group and the signal restoration of the substantia nirga was more common in PD than PS or control group. The frequency of putaminal hypointensity and brain atrophy increased with aging and brainstem atrophy was observed in only PS group.