Evaluation of carotid stenosis by phonoangiography

Quantitative spectral (frequency) analyses were performed on 60 carotid bruits in 48 patients with suspected carotid stenosis. The technic was totally noninvasive. Bruits were recorded at the skin surface, analyzed by a minicomputer, and the degree of arterial stenosis estimated using a recently derived theory of sound production by turbulent blood flow. This method has been named phonoangiography. Fifty of the 60 bruits (83 per cent) had spectrums characteristic of turbulent blood flow, and a residual lumen diameter could be calculated. Results from the noninvasvie technic compared well with data obtained from radiographic carotid arteriograms in the 50 bruits with internal carotid artery stenosis. The residual lumen diameter estimated from phonoangiography differed from the radiographic value by less than 1 mm in 83 per cent and less than 1.5 mm in 92 per cent of the studies. Phonoangiography appears to be a useful method for assessment of carotid artery stenosis.