Detection of air microbubbles in the internal jugular vein after intravenous injection of contrast agent for the diagnosis of patent foramen ovale.
The use of agitated air and saline, injected intravenously, combined with monitoring of the middle cerebral artery using transcranial Doppler sonography, is an effective method for detecting paradoxic cerebral embolism caused by right-to-left intracardiac shunting. This technique is particularly useful in patients with a patent foramen ovale. In patients without temporal acoustic windows, the method can be modified by using sonographic monitoring of the common carotid artery. Observation of saline-contrast microbubbles in the internal jugular vein during this procedure suggests incompetence of the ipsilateral internal jugular valve. This noninvasive method may thus be useful for studying the competence of the internal jugular valve.
Ratanakorn
Disya
D
Department of Neurology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157-1078, USA.
Myers
Lawrence G
LG
Tegeler
Charles H
CH
D000368:Aged; D003287:Contrast Media; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004618:Embolism, Air / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006344:Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007601:Jugular Veins / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial / Q000379:methods*
D003287:Contrast Media