Comparison of different methods evaluating the functional and structural abnormalities in hypertension.
Functional and morphological abnormalities due to hypertension could be detected in neurologically symptom-free patients by CT, MRI, transcranial Doppler ultrasound, PET and SPECT. Neuropsychological tests also provide useful information. Single or combined application of these techniques reveals different aspects of parenchymal or vascular impairment in hypertension. The advantages and disadvantages of the different imaging techniques are reviewed and compared. The relatively simple, non-invasive transcranial Doppler (alone or combined with neuropsychological observations) could be recommended for screening and follow-up of hypertensive patients and seems to be a promising ancillary tool for evaluation of efficacy of antihypertensive therapy, but cannot replace the prospective controlled trials with hard endpoints.
Department of Neurology, Medical School of Debrecen, Hungary.
Andrea
A
Ficzere
László
L
Csiba
D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial