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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

An Approach to Point-Of-Care Ultrasound Evaluation of the Abdominal Aorta
Published on: September 8, 2023
Transcranial Doppler sonography: abnormal waveform pattern of intracranial arteries in acute aortic arch dissection
Konstantinos Vadikolias1, John Heliopoulos, Ioannis Bougioukas
1Department of Neurology, Democritus University of Thrace, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Alexandroupolis, Greece. vadikosm@yahoo.com
Abstract:
We describe an interesting pattern of transcranial Doppler (TCD) intracranial blood flow waveforms in a patient with an acute aortic arch type A dissection. A 49-year-old patient presented with a low blood pressure after a syncopal episode, severe chest pain, and mild left hemiparesis. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed the aortic arch dissection and the formation of the false lumen. TCD revealed an abnormal waveform pattern recorded in middle cerebral, internal carotid, and anterior cerebral arteries bilaterally with a pre-systolic sharp wave that gave the appearance of duplicated systolic phase. Our finding adds another interesting pattern of hemodynamic changes in cerebral circulation in patients with acute aortic arch dissections.
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