RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Continuous wave Doppler ultrasound in evaluation of cerebral blood flow in neonates.
JF Archives of Disease in Childhood
JO Arch Dis Child
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
SP 677
OP 681
DO 10.1136/adc.58.9.677
VO 58
IS 9
A1 P H Gray
A1 E A Griffin
A1 J E Drumm
A1 D E Fitzgerald
A1 N M Duignan
YR 1983
UL http://adc.bmj.com/content/58/9/677.abstract
AB The cerebral circulation of 25 normal term infants was investigated using continuous wave Doppler ultrasound. Serial blood flow velocity signals were obtained from the common carotid and anterior cerebral arteries during the first week of life. The records were processed using a frequency spectrum analyser to provide cerebral blood velocity waveforms. The pulsatility index (PI), A/B ratio, and rise and fall slope of the waveforms were calculated. The results indicated that cerebrovascular resistance was raised appreciably on day 1 of life compared with later in the first week. In 18 of 25 infants (72%) there was no continuous carotid blood flow in the first hours of life. We suggest that the human cerebral circulation adapts to the process of birth in a similar fashion to that of animal models.