Application of sonography for evaluation of posterior circulation disorders

Posterior circulation disorders (PCD) include a) vertebrobasilar insufficiency (VBI), which has a wide clinical manifestation such as vestibulocerebellar syndrome, cephalalgia, cochlear syndrome, vegetovascular dystonia, visual disturbances, "syndrome of vertebral artery compression" etc, b) vertebrobasilar TIA and c) stroke. All of them are caused by blood flow disturbances in vertebral (VA), basilar (BAS) and posterior cerebral arteries (PCA). Aim - evaluation of role of extracranial duplex-sonography (EDS), transcranial color-coded duplex-sonography (TCCD) and rotational functional tests (RFT) in PCD. 88 patients (age range 18-62y) with PCD and 20 healthy controls with relevant age range were examined using EDS, TCCD and RFT with measurement of vertebral arteries (VA) diameter, mean flow velocities (MFV) and pulsatility index (PI) in VA, basilar artery (BAS) and posterior cerebral arteries (PCA). For statistical analysis SPSS software (Version 11.5) was used. In 48 (54,5%) patients revealed unilateral narrowing (less than 2.5 mm in diameter) and deformation of vertebral artery associated with osteochondrosis or primary hypoplasia. In 11 (12,5%) patients revealed bilateral narrowing (less than 2.8 mm in diameter) and deformation of vertebral arteries. Ultrasound investigation showed a decrease of MFV (23 ± 1.4 cm/sec) in the intracranial length of vertebral artery and an increase of PI (3,2 ±0,3 p=0,002) in the extracranial segments (V1- V3). In 52 cases (59%) revealed decrease of MFV in BAS by 32.6 ± 4.7% and in 41 cases (46.5%) decrease of MFV in both PCA by 24.8 ± 5.2% (P<0.002). In 21 cases (23.8%) revealed concurrent development of vertebrogenic reflex vasoconstriction. In 18 patients (20.4%) exposed only deformation of vertebral arteries with local increase of MFV and normal values in intracranial segments. Rotational tests were positive in 42 (47.7%) patients and manifested high correlation with clinical data. EDS and TCCD are important tools for estimation of high hemodynamic risk in patients with PCD. Rotation induced vertebrobasilar ischemia with temporary impairment of cerebral blood flow to the brainstem, thalamus, and occipital lobes predicts possible posterior circulation TIA or stroke and helps with proper selection of further treatment strategy.