Abstract
Duplex Doppler sonography and direct intracranial pressure (ICP) measurement were performed on 18 patients with infantile hydrocephalus. ICP was measured through a frontal reservoir or ventricular tap using a nondisplacement pressure transducer. The Pourcelot Resistive Index, RI=(peak systolic-end diastoli)/peak systolic velocity was obtained from pulsed-wave Doppler measurements of blood flow velocity in the anterior (ACA) and/or the middle cerebral (MCA) arteries. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between ICP and RIs in the MCA and ACA. Paired RI measurements in 7 patients with raised ICP decreased significantly from a mean of 0.90 pre-tap to 0.75 post-tap. Our results suggest that the RI provides a reliable measure of cerebrovascular resistance in hydrocephalus. Duplex Doppler ultrasonography thus is a useful noninvasive means of monitoring cerebrohaemodynamic change with simultaneous imaging of ventricular size in infantile hydrocephalus.
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Goh, D., Minns, R.A., Hendry, G.M.A. et al. Cerebrovascular resistive index assessed by Duplex Doppler sonography and its relationship to intracranial pressure in infantile hydrocephalus. Pediatr Radiol 22, 246–250 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02019849
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02019849