Validity of Doppler Measurements of Anterior Cerebral Artery Blood Flow Velocity: Correlation with Brain Blood Flow in Piglets

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 526-531
Author(s):  
Nancy B. Hansen ◽  
Barbara S. Stonestreet ◽  
Ted S. Rosenkrantz ◽  
William Oh

Continuous wave Doppler ultrasonography through the anterior fontanel has recently been used to assess changes in cerebral blood flow in human neonates. There has been controversy concerning whether measurements of Doppler blood flow velocity indeed correlate with brain blood flow. An in vivo correlation was performed between brain blood flow as measured by the microsphere method and Doppler flow velocity measurements of the cerebral arteries via an artificial fontanel in young piglets. The peak systolic velocity (r = .76, P < .001), end diastolic velocity (r = .72, P < .001) and area under the velocity curve (r = .86, P<.001) all showed significant positive correlations with brain blood flow. The pulsatility index did not correlate with brain blood flow. Although continuous wave Doppler flow velocity measurements of the anterior cerebral artery cannot quantitatively assess cerebral blood flow, this methodology can be used to correlate changes in cerebral blood flow and provide a meaningful trend analysis following physiologic or pharmacologic perturbation of the cerebral circulation.

1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 395-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Ohlsson ◽  
K. Fong ◽  
M. L. Ryan ◽  
L. Yap ◽  
J. D. Smith ◽  
...  

1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 519-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Hylland ◽  
Göran E. Nilsson

Nitric oxide (NO)–dependent regulation of brain blood flow has not been proven to exist in fish or other ectothermic vertebrates. Using epi-illumination microscopy on the brain surface (optic lobes) of crucian carp ( Carassius carassius), we show that superfusing the brain with acetylcholine (ACh) induces an increase in cerebral blood flow velocity that can be completely blocked by the NO synthase inhibitors NG-nitro-l-arginine methylester (L-NAME) and NG-nitro-l-arginine. Also, sodium nitroprusside, which decomposes to liberate NO, causes an increase in cerebral blood flow velocity. By contrast, L-NAME does not block the increase in blood flow velocity caused by anoxia. The results suggest that NO is an endogenous vasodilator in crucian carp brain that mediates the effects of ACh. Because teleost fish deviated from other vertebrates 400 million years ago, these results suggest that NO-dependent brain blood flow regulation was an early event in vertebrate evolution.


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