Doppler Ultrasonographic Parameters for Predicting Cerebral Vascular Reserve in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: We investigated Doppler ultrasonographic (US) parameters of patients with acute stroke to predict the cerebral vascular reserve (CVR) measured by SPECT. MATERIALS and METHODS: We reviewed the flow velocity and cross-sectional area of the circular vessel at the common, external, and internal carotid arteries (ICA) and the vertebral arteries (VA) in 109 acute stroke patients who underwent SPECT. Flow volume (FV) of each artery was calculated as the product of the angle-corrected time-averaged flow velocity and cross-sectional area of the circular vessel. Total cerebral FV (TCBFV) was determined as the sum of the FVs of the right and left ICA and VA. We compared the Doppler US parameters between 44 cases of preserved and 65 cases of impaired CVR. RESULTS: In the preserved CVR group, ICA FV, anterior circulating FV (ACFV) and TCBFV were higher than in the impaired CVR group (p < 0.05, independent t-test). In the impaired CVR group, the ROC curves showed ACFV and TCBFV were suitable parameters to predict CVR (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Doppler US was helpful for understanding the hemodynamic state of acute stroke. FV measurement by Doppler US was useful for predicting CVR.