Evaluation of occlusive cerebrovascular disease using ultrasonic quantitative flow measurement

Eighty-four patients with cerebrovascular disease were studied by cerebral angiography and a prototype Doppler device, ultrasonic quantitative flow measurement (UQFM), that provides data from which absolute common carotid flow can be determined. The UQFM showed significantly lower flows in 23 patients who had complete occlusion of the internal carotid artery on the affected side (p less than 0.001). In 11 patients with occlusion of hte middle cerebral artery at its origin and in 5 with branch occlusions, the blood flow in the ipsilateral common carotid artery was also significantly lower (p less than 0.01). There was no significant difference between blood flow on the 2 sides in 9 patients with stenosis of middle cerebral artery and in 7 with stenosis of internal carotid artery. Due to the small number of patients no definite conclusion can be drawn. The UQFM is thought to be useful not only in screening for occlusive cerebrovascular disease but also to help understand better the mechanisms of ischemia in the presence of carotid lesions.