Intraoperative 133Xe cerebral blood flow measurements by intravenous versus intracarotid methods

To document the comparability of cerebral blood flow (CBF) values determined by quantification of 133Xe washout after either intravenous or intracarotid administration, 12 patients undergoing elective carotid endarterectomy anesthetized with N2O/O2 and either isoflurane or halothane were studied. Scintillation counters were placed over the middle cerebral artery territory ipsilateral to the operated carotid artery. CBF was measured by the intravenous method during dissection of the carotid sheath and was calculated as the initial slope index from head washout curves collected for 11 min after injection of 10-20 mCi 133Xe in saline into a large vein. Immediately prior to carotid occlusion, CBF was determined by direct injection of 1 mCi 133Xe in saline into either the internal carotid artery or the common carotid artery with the external carotid artery occluded. For the intracarotid injections, the initial slope was calculated from the 1st min of washout. Data were analyzed by linear regression and analysis of variance. Values are expressed as mean +/- SD. The mean CBF for intravenous and intracarotid methods were both 29 +/- 10 ml.100 g-1.min-1. The correlation between CBF measured by intravenous and intracarotid methods was excellent and was described by the line y = x + 0.6, r = 0.92. We conclude that in the flow range studied, the intravenous technique may be applied to measure CBF in physiologically stable situations in which direct intracarotid injection is not feasible.