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Neurovascular Coupling and Cerebral Autoregulation in Patients with Stenosis of the Posterior Cerebral Artery
Author(s) -
Fritzsch Carsten,
Rosengarten Bernhard,
Guschlbauer Brigitte,
Weiller Cornelius,
Hetzel Andreas,
Reinhard Matthias
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of neuroimaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1552-6569
pISSN - 1051-2284
DOI - 10.1111/j.1552-6569.2009.00424.x
Subject(s) - cerebral autoregulation , medicine , posterior cerebral artery , neurovascular bundle , cerebral blood flow , stenosis , transcranial doppler , cardiology , autoregulation , middle cerebral artery , hemodynamics , cerebral arteries , anterior cerebral artery , blood flow , blood pressure , anatomy , anesthesia , ischemia
Neurovascular coupling and cerebral autoregulation are two brain intrinsic vasoregulative mechanisms that rapidly adjust local cerebral blood flow. This study examined if stenotic disease affects both mechanisms in the posterior cerebral artery. Ten patients with altogether 13 stenosed (≥50%) posterior cerebral artery (PCA) sides were studied. In addition, 6 control persons without a PCA stenosis were examined. Cerebral blood flow velocity was assessed from both PCAs with transcranial Doppler sonography; blood pressure was measured noninvasively via fingerplethysmography. Neurovascular coupling was assessed by a control system approach using a standard visual stimulation paradigm. Cerebral autoregulation dynamics were measured from spontaneous oscillations of blood pressure and cerebral blood flow velocity by transfer function analysis (phase and gain). The parameters of neurovascular coupling and cerebral autoregulation did not show relevant differences between controls, nonstenosed sides, and stenosed sides. The 3 severely stenosed PCA sides showed a trend to a minor functional flow velocity change and attenuation of the neurovascular coupling mechanism in relation to sides with moderate stenosis. Phase and gain were not altered on sides with PCA stenosis. We conclude that in a group of patients with mainly moderate stenosis of the PCA neurovascular coupling and dynamic autoregulation dynamics seem to be unaltered.