Acute hemispheric stroke: correlation between three-dimensional transcranial Doppler, MR-angiography, CT and clinical findings.

We examined 50 ischemic stroke patients and 67 controls free of vascular disease, intra- or extracranial. We assessed all subjects clinically by neurological examination (quantified on the Canadian Neurological Scale or CNS), by three-dimensional transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD-3D) and by computed tomography (CT) within 24 h of the acute event, repeating CT 15 days later. 15 patients also underwent magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA).

Three-dimensional transcranial Doppler in acute ischemic stroke in the territory of the middle cerebral artery: clinical and CT correlation.

We studied 34 patients with acute ischemic stroke in the territory of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) by three-dimensional transcranial Doppler (TCD-3D). The parameters analyzed were: mean blood flow velocity, systolic and diastolic velocities; indices of pulsatility, hemisphere asymmetry and pulsatility transmission. Of the 34 patients 11 presented marked slowing of flow velocity in the MCA on the infarct side with an asymmetry index (AI) of over 40%, 8 patients with slightly reduced flow velocity in the MCA and an AI of 25-40%, 2 patients in whom there was indirect evidence of collateral circulations in the anterior cerebral artery distribution together with slowing of MCA flow; 5 patients had stenosis of the MCA, 9 patients showed no alterations of the Doppler parameters.