Assessment of the cerebral vasomotor reactivity in internal carotid artery occlusion using a transcranial Doppler sonography and functional MRI.
OBJECTIVE
Several methods are being used to assess cerebral vasomotor reactivity (CVR), including transcranial Doppler (TCD) sonography and blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The aim was to assess the correlation of TCD and fMRI in the CVR assessment.


METHODS
Study group consisted of 28 patients (24 males, 4 females; aged 30-82, mean 63.1 +/- 10.0 years), presenting with 29 occluded internal carotid arteries. The TCD examination, including breath-holding/hyperventilation test (BH/HV) and breath-holding index (BHI), and fMRI examination were used for the assessment of CVR. fMRI employed a bimanual motor task within both a block paradigm and an event-related paradigm. Cohen's kappa was applied when statistically assessing correlation of the methods.


RESULTS
The following correlations were found--between BH/HV and BHI 58.6%, kappa= .205; BH/HV and fMRI 65.5%, kappa= .322; BHI and fMRI 58.6%, kappa= .151; TCD (consistent result of both BH/HV and BHI test) and fMRI 70.6%, kappa= .414.


CONCLUSIONS
In the evaluation of CVR, there is only a minimal correlation between the particular TCD tests (both BH/HV and BHI), and fMRI examination. However, there is a moderate correlation between TCD and fMRI in the case of congruity of both TCD tests.
Herzig
Roman
R
Stroke Center, Departments of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University and University Hospital, Olomouc, Czech Republic. herzig.roman@seznam.cz
Hlustík
Petr
P
Skoloudík
David
D
Sanák
Daniel
D
Vlachová
Ivanka
I
Herman
Miroslav
M
Kanovský
Petr
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D002343:Carotid Artery, Internal; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial