Radiology, Vol 188, 137-141, Copyright © 1993 by Radiological Society of North America
Cerebral blood flow velocity after head injury: transcranial Doppler evaluation. Work in progress
B Goraj, S Rifkinson-Mann, DR Leslie, SS Kasoff and MS Tenner
Department of Radiology, New York Medical College, Westchester County Medical Center, Valhalla 10595.
To study blood flow velocity (BFV) changes, serial transcranial Doppler
ultrasound (US) examinations of basal cerebral arteries were performed in
47 patients with head injury. Computed tomographic (CT) scans obtained at
admission were analyzed for the presence of intracranial hemorrhages.
Glasgow Coma Scale scores were obtained at admission in 46 patients. The
prevalence of posttraumatic increased BFV was 77% (n = 36). Two groups of
patients were identified according to the time of onset of increased BFV.
They differed with respect to duration and severity of changes, Glasgow
Coma Scale score, and evidence of intracranial hemorrhagic lesions. Low
Glasgow Coma Scale scores were predictive of increased BFV within 72 hours
after injury (P < .001). Patients with hemorrhages were significantly
more prone to experience increased BFV within 72 hours (P < .05); 34% of
patients who did not have hemorrhage, however, developed increased BFV.
Increased BFV after head trauma is not uniformly found and cannot be
explained by one pathologic mechanism.
