The impact of raised intracranial pressure on cerebral venous hemodynamics: a prospective venous transcranial Doppler ultrasonography study.
OBJECTIVE
The effect of increased intracranial pressure (ICP) on cerebral venous blood flow has been the subject of very few clinical and experimental studies. The authors assessed the usefulness of venous transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasonography as a noninvasive monitoring tool for predicting raised ICP.


METHODS
Serial venous TCD studies of the basal vein of Rosenthal and the straight sinus (SS) were prospectively performed in 30 control volunteers and 25 patients with raised ICP. Correlations with ICP data were calculated using a multivariate regression model. Venous blood flow velocities (BFVs) in the basal vein of Rosenthal showed, within a certain range, a linear relationship between mean ICP and maximal venous BFV (r = 0.645; p<0.002). Moreover, a linear relationship was found for maximal venous BFVs in the SS and mean ICP (r = 0.928; p<0.0003).


CONCLUSIONS
Venous TCD studies may provide an additional noninvasive monitoring tool for raised ICP and give further insights into the cerebral venous hemodynamics present during raised ICP.
Schoser
B G
BG
Department of Neurology, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. schoser@uke.uni-hamburg.de.
Riemenschneider
N
N
Hansen
H C
HC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000097:blood; D002550:Cerebral Veins / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D019586:Intracranial Hypertension / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007427:Intracranial Pressure; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial
D002245:Carbon Dioxide