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(Stroke. 2001;32:2055.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.

Original Contributions

B-Mode Flow Imaging of the Carotid Artery

Atsushi Umemura, MD Kazuo Yamada, MD

From the Department of Neurosurgery, Nagoya City University Medical School, Nagoya, Japan.

Correspondence to Atsushi Umemura, MD, Department of Neurosurgery, Nagoya City University Medical School, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601, Japan. E-mail aume{at}med.nagoya-cu.ac.jp

Background and Purpose—— B-mode ultrasonography has been used to evaluate cervical carotid artery lesions. Recently, the technology for direct visualization of blood reflectors has made B-mode flow imaging (B-flow) possible without the limitations of Doppler technology. We evaluated the efficacy of B-flow in examining the cervical carotid artery.

Methods—— Sixty patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease were examined. Conventional B-mode imaging and blood flow images by power Doppler imaging (PDI) and B-flow were obtained.

Results—— B-flow enabled simultaneous imaging of tissue and blood flow. Compared with PDI, B-flow provided higher spatial resolution and higher frame rate hemodynamic imaging. Consequently, a clear definition of the vessel lumen was obtained even in the stenotic portion of the carotid artery. In evaluating the degree of carotid stenosis, B-flow measurement agreed with digital subtraction angiography as well as PDI measurement. In addition, bloodstream swirl at the site of wall ulceration or vascular elongation was observed.

Conclusions—— B-flow was prominent in visualizing hemodynamic flow and detection of stenotic lesion in the cervical carotid artery. Combined with conventional B-mode technique, B-flow seems to be useful in evaluating carotid stenosis.

Key Words: carotid arteries • carotid stenosis • diagnostic imaging • ultrasonography

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