BLOOD-FLOW VELOCITIES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS IN CAROTID AND MIDDLE CEREBRAL-ARTERIES

This study defines normative how velocity (FV) ranges for the common c arotid (CCA), internal carotid (ICA) and middle cerebral arteries (MCA ), compares them to subjects,vith nonfocal vascular disease (mild to m oderate hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia or coronary artery dise ase), and clarifies the association between carotid and MCA FVs, FVs w ere measured by carotid and transcranial Doppler ultrasonography in 27 8 healthy and 190 vascular-disease subjects. Normative FV ranges for C CA, ICA and MCA were large in healthy subjects, with modest gender and age differences. Vascular-disease subjects had similar FVs to healthy controls. MCA FVs were significantly correlated with carotid FVs (r r anged 0.26-0.50), but were only weakly or not significantly associated with them (beta ranged 0.08-0.18) when controlling for age and gender . These findings suggest that normative FVs are not affected by the pr esence of nonfocal vascular disease, but carotid FVs do not aid in ass essing MCA FVs, (C) 1998 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.