Balloon occlusion test of the internal carotid artery: correlation with stump pressure and 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the correlation of stump pressure during balloon occlusion test and relative cerebral blood flow (relative CBF) as measured by 99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (99mTc-HMPAO) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) after test occlusion.


METHODS
Balloon occlusion test of the internal carotid artery (ICA) was performed in 25 patients. The count ratio of occluded hemisphere to non-occluded hemisphere was calculated on 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT. The ratio of mean stump pressure to mean arterial pressure during carotid occlusion during the balloon occlusion test was compared with the count ratio of 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT.


RESULTS
Two patients failed to tolerate even brief carotid occlusion. The other 23 patients showed no ischemic deficit during occlusion of the ICA. In 13 of these 23 patients, the ratios of mean stump pressure to mean arterial pressure were more than 50%, and the count ratios on SPECT were more than 85%. In 10 of 23 patients, the ratios of mean stump pressure to mean arterial pressure were less than 50%, and the count ratios on SPECT were variable.


CONCLUSIONS
Maintenance of a mean stump pressure of 50% or more of the mean systemic pressure during test occlusion indicates adequate cerebral blood flow during carotid occlusion.
Kato
K
K
Department of Radiology, Akita University School of Medicine, Akita, Japan. rad@ohtawara-jrc.com
Tomura
N
N
Takahashi
S
S
Sakuma
I
I
Sasaki
K
K
Kitani
H
H
Watarai
J
J
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D021721:Balloon Occlusion / Q000379:methods*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002343:Carotid Artery, Internal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019690:Technetium Tc 99m Exametazime; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D019690:Technetium Tc 99m Exametazime