[Changes of blood flow velocity in the extracranial and basilar arteries in physiological aging]

The maximal blood flow velocity was assessed in extracranial and cephalad arteries: ophthalmic, supratrochlear, common carotid, superficial temporal, subclavian and vertebral in 150 clinically healthy subjects aged 18 to 80 years using continuous ultrasound 5 MHz wave. In all the arteries the flow velocity was decreasing with age. The degree of velocity decrease varied between various arteries, especially in the common carotid and subclavian arteries, less so in the ophthalmic and vertebral arteries, and least in the supratrochlear and superficial temporal arteries. In a small number of cases the maximal systolic velocity was very low in the supratrochlear and ophthalmic arteries although this velocity and the neurological status were normal in these subjects.