MICROEMBOLIZATION FROM A CAROTID MURAL THROMBUS DETECTED BY TRANSCRANIAL DOPPLER

Over the last few years, many authors have described the possibility o f using transcranial Doppler to demonstrate the passage of microemboli in the cerebral arteries. We report the case of a 44-year-old woman w ith thrombotic diathesis and thrombocytosis who was admitted twice wit hin a short period of time (one and a half months) to a neurological d epartment because of multiple cerebral infarctions. On the occasion of the second admission, a colour-Doppler examination of the epiaortic v essels, which had previously been negative, showed a carotid lesion du e to a mural thrombus and, on the same side as the carotid lesion, tra nscranial Doppler detected short-duration, high-intensity signals in t he middle and anterior cerebral arteries, an expression of the passage of microemboli. As already described by other authors in similar clin ical situations, our case confirms that transcranial Doppler can ident ify the passage of microemboli in the circle of Willis.