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Effects of Acupuncture upon cerebral hemodynamics in cerebral small vessel disease: A pilot study
Endy-Chun-Hung Tang1, Alexander-Yuk-Lun Lau1,2, David Au2
1Lau Tat-chuen Research Centre of Brain Degenerative Diseases in Chinese, Margaret K.L. Cheung Research Centre for Management of Parkinsonism, Therese Pei Fong Chow Research Centre for Prevention of Dementia, Gerald Choa Neuroscience Institute, Lui Che Woo Institute of Innovative Medicine, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Background And Aims:
Recent preclinical studies and meta-analysis of clinical trials suggested that acupuncture may improve cognition in cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). We investigated the cerebral hemodynamics of acupuncture in subjects with CSVD and compared its impact upon the cerebral hemodynamics in normal elderly subjects.
Methods:
10 subjects with CSVD (CSVD group) and 10 aged-matched control subjects who had no or insignificant CSVD (control group) were recruited. A single session of acupuncture was applied for 30 min in both groups. We assessed the effect of our acupuncture intervention on cerebral hemodynamics by transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD). Peak systolic velocity (PSV) and pulsatility index (PI) of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) were assessed.
Results:
We observed that PSV increased by a maximum of 39% at 20 min (p<0.05), while there was no significant change in PI in the CSVD group during the acupuncture session. In the control group, although we observed no significant change in PSV during the acupuncture session, there was a significant decrease in PI by a maximum of 22% at 20 min (p<0.05). No adverse events were reported during or after the procedure.
Conclusion:
This study suggested that our acupuncture prescription was associated with an increase in cerebral blood flow in subjects with established moderate to severe CSVD yet without apparent impact on distal vascular resistance. While, in subjects with no or insignificant CSVD, it may reduce cerebral small vessel distal vascular resistance. A larger study is needed to confirm our findings.
