title: Transcranial Doppler: an introduction for primary care physicians.
abstract: Transcranial Doppler (TCD) is a diagnostic tool that can be used at bedside to assess the cerebral vasculature noninvasively. It is inexpensive, safe, and reliable when compared with other techniques. It can be repeated multiple times and can be used for continuous monitoring if needed. Screening of children with sickle cell disease to assess and prevent ischemic strokes and monitoring for vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage are well established, evidenced based utilizations of TCD. It is useful for the evaluation of occlusive intracranial vascular lesions with many emerging indications in the management of ischemic stroke. TCD with micro-bubble enhancement has comparable sensitivity to transesophageal echocardiogram in detecting right-to-left atrial cardiac shunts. TCD is underused as a clinical tool despite well established indications. The pressure to contain increasing medical cost will likely result in increased utilization of this test in future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. mounzer.kassab@ht.msu.edu
authors.forename: Mounzer Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Kassab
authors.forename: Arshad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Majid
authors.forename: Muhammad U
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Farooq
authors.forename: Hend
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Azhary
authors.forename: Linda A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Hershey
authors.forename: Edward M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Bednarczyk
authors.forename: Dion F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Graybeal
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D002550:Cerebral Veins / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005194:Family Practice; D006801:Humans; D011320:Primary Health Care; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial; D014481:United States