COMPARISON OF A SIMPLE ISOTOPE METHOD OF PREDICTING LIKELY MIDDLE CEREBRAL-ARTERY OCCLUSION WITH TRANSCRANIAL DOPPLER ULTRASOUND IN ACUTE ISCHEMIC STROKE

The accuracy of a simple isotope method of assessing middle cerebral a rterial occlusion was compared with that of transcranial Doppler ultra sound and with a careful clinical examination and CT brain scan to pre dict the probable pattern of cerebral arterial occlusion in 85 acute s troke patients. The isotope method detected likely middle cerebral art ery main stem or large branch occlusion with equal accuracy to transcr anial Doppler ultrasound. This simple isotope method is a practical wa y of assessing cerebral arterial occlusion, is inexpensive, non-operat or-dependent, faster than transcranial Doppler ultrasound and uses tec hnology which is already widely available. It may be useful for resear ch in acute stroke at present and in future may help guide treatment o f acute ischaemic stroke.