Hemodynamic Disturbances in Cerebral Ischemia: Correlation Between Positron Emission Tomographic and Angiographic Findings

Abstract

Proper treatment of ischemic stroke requires better understanding of cerebral hemodynamic changes. The hemodynamic changes associated with ischemia were measured using positron emission tomography and related to angiographic findings in the subacute and chronic stages of 17 ischemia patients who showed symptoms of main trunk stenosis of the internal carotid artery system. The hemodynamic factors, cerebral blood flow, cerebral blood volume, cerebral metabolic rate for oxygen, oxygen extraction fraction, and flow/volume ratio, were measured in regions of interest determined from the angiographic stenosis (over 50%) and compared in each stage. The cerebral blood flow and flow/volume ratio in the territory downstream of the main trunk stenosis and cerebral metabolic rate for oxygen in the whole cortex were decreased in the subacute stage. In the chronic stage, cerebral blood flow and flow/volume ratio decreased mainly in borderzone areas. © 1993, The Japan Neurosurgical Society. All rights reserved.