Practice standards for transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound. Part II. Clinical indications and expected outcomes. uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • INTRODUCTION: Transcranial Doppler (TCD) is a physiological ultrasound test with established safety and efficacy. Although imaging devices may be used to depict intracranial flow superimposed on structural visualization, the end-result provided by imaging duplex or nonimaging TCD is sampling physiological flow variables through the spectral waveform assessment. SUMMARY OF RESULTS: Clinical indications considered by this multidisciplinary panel of experts as established are: sickle cell disease, cerebral ischemia, detection of right-to-left shunts (RLS), subarachnoid hemorrhage, brain death, and periprocedural or surgical monitoring. The following TCD-procedures are performed in routine in- and outpatient clinical practice: complete or partial TCD-examination to detect normal, stenosed, or occluded intracranial vessels, collaterals to locate an arterial obstruction and refine carotid-duplex or noninvasive angiographic findings; vasomotor reactivity testing to identify high-risk patients for first-ever or recurrent stroke; emboli detection to detect, localize, and quantify cerebral embolization in real time; RLS-detection in patients with suspected paradoxical embolism or those considered for shunt closure; monitoring of thrombolysis to facilitate recanalization and detect reocclusion; monitoring of endovascular stenting, carotid endarterectomy, and cardiac surgery to detect perioperative embolism, thrombosis, hypo- and hyperperfusion. CONCLUSION: By defining the scope of practice, these standards will assist referring and reporting physicians and third parties involved in the process of requesting, evaluating, and acting upon TCD results.

publication date

  • October 26, 2010

Research

keywords

  • Cerebrovascular Disorders
  • Radiology
  • Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 84863769122

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1111/j.1552-6569.2010.00523.x

PubMed ID

  • 20977531

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 22

issue

  • 3