Carotid Doppler Evaluation of Transient Ischemic Attack And Stroke Patients And Its Correlation With CT Scan Head: A Prospective Study

Abstract

Sonographic evaluation of the carotid arteries, both gray scale and doppler is widely used for risk assessment for cerebrovascular accidents. Objective To establish the sensitivity of carotid doppler in patients with cerebrovascular accidents and the risk factors (on carotid USG) associated with severity of cerebrovascular accidents. Method-The present study Carotid Doppler evaluation of Transient Ischaemic Attack and Stroke patients and its correlation with CT scan head was carried out in 100 patients with cerebrovascular accidents during the period of September 2011 to September 2012. Patients with neurological symptoms were divided into two groups: stroke and transient ischaemic attack, based on CT head findings. All patients were then subjected to gray scale and doppler evaluation of carotid arteries. Results In stroke patients 42 out of 50 showed evidence of carotid stenosis (ipsilateral or bilateral) while 8 patients were normal. Thus the sensitivity of carotid doppler in stroke patients was 84%. 70% of patients with >50% stenosis had large infarct on CT scan head while only 25% of patients with <50% stenosis had large infarct (p value-0.003). Conclusion-Carotid doppler is an important non invasive diagnostic tool with high sensitivity