Droste Dirk W, Boehm Thomas, Ritter Martin A, Dittrich Ralf, Ringelstein E Bernd
Department of Neurology, University of Munster, Germany.
Cerebrovasc Dis. 2005;20(5):332-6. doi: 10.1159/000087933. Epub 2005 Aug 30.
Proper assessment of the intracranial arteries by transcranial color-coded duplex sonography (TCCD) is occasionally made difficult by an insufficient temporal bone window, an unfavorable insonation angle, or low flow velocity or volume. In these cases, echocontrast could be helpful to increase the diagnostic confidence or to make the diagnosis at all.
We investigated 67 temporal windows of 47 patients with insufficient native transtemporal insonation conditions before and after the application of the second-generation (gas-filled) microbubble contrast agent Sonovue (in 20 patients out of these 47, both temporal windows were insufficient, in the remaining 27 only one side).
As compared to the precontrast scans, echocontrast allowed for more segments to be evaluated by pulsed Doppler sonography (p < 0.0001) and for longer lumen segments to be displayed on color mode (p < 0.0001). With the help of contrast medium, flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery could be measured through 65 windows as compared to only 26 windows before contrast was applied (p < 0.0001).
In patients with poor precontrast visualization of intracranial arteries, echocontrast-enhanced TCCD is very helpful.
经颅彩色编码双功超声检查（TCCD）对颅内动脉的正确评估偶尔会因颞骨窗不足、声束角度不佳或流速或流量较低而变得困难。在这些情况下，超声造影可能有助于提高诊断信心或完全做出诊断。
我们在应用第二代（充气）微泡造影剂声诺维之前和之后，对47例经颞部自然声窗条件不足的患者的67个颞窗进行了研究（在这47例患者中，20例双侧颞窗均不足，其余27例仅一侧不足）。
与造影前扫描相比，超声造影使得更多节段能够通过脉冲多普勒超声进行评估（p<0.0001），并且在彩色模式下能够显示更长的管腔节段（p<0.0001）。借助造影剂，与应用造影剂前仅26个窗口相比，通过65个窗口能够测量大脑中动脉的流速（p<0.0001）。
对于造影前颅内动脉显示不佳的患者，超声造影增强的TCCD非常有帮助。
