title: Transfontanelle pulsed Doppler measurement of blood flow velocity in the internal jugular vein, straight sinus, and internal cerebral vein in preterm and term neonates.
abstract: This paper presents the range of normal blood flow velocity in different cerebral veins in early infancy measured by transfontanelle pulsed Doppler ultrasonography. The blood flow velocity of the internal jugular vein (38 infants), internal cerebral vein (28 infants), and straight sinus (18 infants) in a group of clinically stable neonates and young infants (body weight 1060-3750 g, age 1-86 d, gestational age 28-41 wk) is specified. The time mean of maximum velocity (Vma) of internal jugular vein was 8.4 +/- 4.7 cm/s, of internal cerebral vein 5.5 +/- 1.6 cm/s, and of straight sinus 12.6 +/- 7.8 cm/s. While the variability between infants was high, the reproducibility of the method was in the range of 4.4-10.2% for Vma. This compares well with studies on cerebral arteries and offers a noninvasive approach to the study of the venous cerebral hemodynamics in neonates undergoing intensive care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Münster, Federal Republic of Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pfannschmidt
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jorch
mesh_terms: D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D002550:Cerebral Veins / Q000502:physiology*; D003392:Cranial Sinuses / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000502:physiology*; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000502:physiology*; D007601:Jugular Veins / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D014463:Ultrasonography