title: Measurement of cerebral circulation time by contrast-enhanced Doppler sonography.
abstract: We present a new, non-invasive ultrasound method for the measurement of cerebral circulation time. After injection of a galactose-based echo-contrast agent (Levovist) into an antecubital vein, cerebral circulation time is measured as the interval between the beginning of a stable signal enhancement of at least 5 dB in the internal carotid artery and in the ipsilateral internal jugular vein. Both vessels are insonated simultaneously at the mandibular angle using a single 2-MHz range-gated transducer. For this study, 25 healthy volunteers ranging in age from 23 to 55 years (30.1 +/- 7.5 years; mean +/- SD) were examined. Cerebral circulation time was 5.6 +/- 1.7 s without significant side-to-side or sex-related differences. Measurement of circulation times offers a new possibility for the employment of echo-contrast agents in functional ultrasound.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Charité, Humboldt University Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weih
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schreiber
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Einhäupl
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Valdueza
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D002343:Carotid Artery, Internal / Q000502:physiology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007601:Jugular Veins / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D012016:Reference Values; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D011134:Polysaccharides; C059891:SHU 508