[Contribution of continuous emission Doppler examination to the assessment of internal carotid artery permeability (author's transl)].

Results of continuous emission directional Doppler examinations of 325 internal carotid arteries in 210 patients were compared with angiographic data. The sensitivity and specificity of the method were considered, and more particularly the predictive value of the Doppler examination for the diagnosis of obstruction and for assessing the permeability of the internal carotid arteries. The present work confirms that the Doppler examination is not valid for the diagnosis of non-obstructive emboligenic lesions of the artery, but is of definite value for determining the presence or absence of obstruction in nearly 100 p. cent of the cases. This excellent reliability suggests that Doppler examination should take place in planned investigations allowing to perform carotid angiography with less risks and a maximum therapeutic efficiency.