B-mode flow imaging of the carotid artery

Background and Purpose-B-mode ultrasonography has been used to evaluate cer vical carotid artery lesions. Recently, the technology for direct visualiza tion of blood reflectors has made B-mode flow imaging (B-flow) possible wit hout the limitations of Doppler technology. We evaluated the efficacy of B- flow in examining the cervical carotid artery. Methods-Sixty patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease were examined. Conventional B-mode imaging and blood flow images by power Doppler imaging (PDI) and B-flow were obtained. Results-B-flow enabled simultaneous imaging of tissue and blood flow. Compa red with PDI, B-flow provided higher spatial resolution and higher frame ra te hemodynamic imaging. Consequently, a clear definition of the vessel lume n was L-h obtained even in the stenotic portion of the carotid artery. In e valuating the degree of carotid stenosis, B-flow measurement agreed with di gital subtraction angiography as well as PDI measurement. In addition, bloo dstream swirl at the site of wall ulceration or vascular elongation was obs erved. Conclusions-B-flow was prominent in visualizing hemodynamic flow and detect ion of stenotic lesion in the cervical carotid artery. Combined with conven tional B-mode technique, B-flow seems to be useful in evaluating carotid st enosis.