Continuous-Wave Doppler of Vertebral Arteries in Noninvasive Diagnosis and Management of Vertebro-Basilar TIAs

Abstract

Continuous-wave Doppler and angiography of the vertebro-basilar system were used in 38 patients with vertebro-basilar transient ischemic attacks. 63 vertebral arteries were studied. Among 47 normal Doppler parameters, 46 were confirmed by angiography. The sonographic diagnostic procedure showed a very high negative predictive value (97.87%), while the positive predictive value was relatively low (56.25%). Data from literature were reviewed. The authors suggest that when Doppler of vertebral arteries is negative, there is a very low probability that a follow-up angiography will reveal pathologic conditions calling for a surgical approach.

Posterior Ponticles and Rotational Stenosis of Vertebral Arteries. A Pilot Study Using Doppler Ultrasound Velocimetry and Magnetic Resonance Angiography

“…Previous studies that compared Doppler velocimetry of vertebral arteries with arteriography indicated that Doppler had high sensitivity and specificity in examining the patency of vertebral arteries with the head in the neutral position. [11][12][13][14] Another study 15 that compared Doppler velocimetry with color duplex sonography indicated that the former had high validity (k = 1.00) in determining rotational stenosis of vertebral arteries. Haynes et al 16 found that the Doppler technique also displayed high interexaminer reliability (k = 0.68).…”