Accuracy of digitalized differential pulse timing oculoplethysmography.

A new digitalized differential pulse timing oculoplethysmograph was used to detect the presence or absence of significant carotid artery stenosis in 95 consecutive patients undergoing bilateral selective carotid arteriograms. The test had an over-all accuracy rate of 88 to 93 per cent. the unilateral or eye-to-eye time delay was the applicable criteria in 87 patients. If this time delay is seven milliseconds or less, there is a 95 per cent probability that the patient has normal carotid arteries. Time delays equal to, or greater than, eight milliseconds indicate a stenotic carotid artery, the most patients in this category have time delays of greater than 15 milliseconds, a highly specific finding with a 98 per cent or greater confidence in the interpretation of significant carotid artery stenosis.