title: Transcranial Doppler sonography: abnormal waveform pattern of intracranial arteries in acute aortic arch dissection.
abstract: We describe an interesting pattern of transcranial Doppler (TCD) intracranial blood flow waveforms in a patient with an acute aortic arch type A dissection. A 49-year-old patient presented with a low blood pressure after a syncopal episode, severe chest pain, and mild left hemiparesis. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed the aortic arch dissection and the formation of the false lumen. TCD revealed an abnormal waveform pattern recorded in middle cerebral, internal carotid, and anterior cerebral arteries bilaterally with a pre-systolic sharp wave that gave the appearance of duplicated systolic phase. Our finding adds another interesting pattern of hemodynamic changes in cerebral circulation in patients with acute aortic arch dissections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Democritus University of Thrace, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Alexandroupolis, Greece. vadikosm@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vadikolias
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heliopoulos
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bougioukas
authors.forename: Panos
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Prassopoulos
authors.forename: Charitomeni
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piperidou
mesh_terms: D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001158:Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D004453:Echoencephalography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010507:Periodicity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial