T. Umeyama et al., CHANGES IN CEREBRAL BLOOD-FLOW ESTIMATED AFTER STELLATE GANGLION BLOCK BY SINGLE-PHOTON EMISSION COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY, Journal of the autonomic nervous system, 50(3), 1995, pp. 339-346
The validity of the hypothesis that the cerebral vasculature is under
the control of sympathetic innervation was investigated using brain sc
intigraphy imaging before and after stellate ganglion block (SGB). The
experiment with HM-PAO showed a definite increase in the blood flow o
f the brain on the block side on both by the dynamic images and the SP
ECT images. The tympanic temperature (Tty) of the block side decreased
significantly after SGB, compared to the unblock side in this study,
as had been reported before. This change in Tty coinsided with the inc
rease in cerebral blood flow as mentioned above. This study demonstrat
ed that the cerebral vasculature is under the control of sympathetic i
nnervation, the pathway of which is relayed and/or passes through the
stellate ganglion. We conclude that SGB increases intracerebral blood
flow and can also exert secondary effects systemically due to CNS bloo
d flow changes as have been previously reported.