ABSTRACT

Non-invasive measurement of cerebral blood flow volume can be helpful in the prevention, diagnosis, and follow-up of cerebrovascular dise-ases. This study aimed to compare the accuracy levels of blood flow volume estimations in the bilateral common carotid, internal carotid and external ar-teries of healthy volunteers obtained with color Doppler, power Doppler and B-flow US with the use of an internal standard.

Blood flow volumes of the bilateral common carotid, internal carotid and external carotid arteries of 40 healthy volunteers (17 men, 23 women, age range 27-44 years, mean age 34.43 ± 8.45) were measured using color Doppler, power Doppler and B-flow US. The total of blood flow volume estimates in the internal and external carotid arteries was compared with the ipsilateral common carotid artery flow. Considering that no difference would be demonstrated with an accurate technique, the difference (percentage inconsistency) was accepted as a measure of the accuracy of the method, and three US techniques were compared.

Percentage inconsistency (mean ± SD) was 19.21 ± 15.51% for co-lor Doppler, 13.45 ± 11.02% for power Doppler, and 4.03 ± 4.01% for B flow US. B flow sonography provided a better correlation of the common carotid artery blood flow volume with the sum of internal and external carotid artery blood flow, compared to the other Doppler methods. For the measurement of carotid blood flow volume, the differences in inconsistency between B-flow and color Doppler, as well as B-flow and power Doppler were statistically significant (p < 0.01).

B-flow imaging provides more accurate measurements for blood flow volume estimations in the carotid artery, compared to other so-nographic methods. B-flow US can be helpful for noninvasive estimation of cerebrovascular blood flow volume.