THE INTRACRANIAL VENOUS SYSTEM IN INFANTS - NORMAL AND ABNORMAL FINDINGS ON DUPLEX AND COLOR DOPPLER SONOGRAPHY

Venous hypertension has been implicated as an important factor in the pathogenesis of neonatal brain injury under a variety of circumstances , such as periventricular hemorrhagic infarction in the preterm infant [1], cerebrovascular injury after treatment with extracorporeal membr ane oxygenation (ECMO) [2], and thrombosis of the superior sagittal si nus. Although duplex and color Doppler sonographic techniques have bee n used to evaluate the intracranial arterial tree for several years, l ittle attention has been paid to the role of Doppler techniques in the evaluation of the cerebral venous system. We describe the appearance of the normal infantile cerebral venous system on color and duplex Dop pler sonograms and present a spectrum of abnormalities in venous hemod ynamics in critically ill infants with the goal of familiarizing reade rs with the clinical potential of this technique.