Reduced response of cerebral blood flow to hypercapnia: Restoration by extracranial—intracranial bypass

✍ Scribed by C. C. R. Bishop; Mr. K. G. Burnand; M. Brown; R. Ross Russell; N. L. Browse

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 419 KB
• Volume: 74
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0007-1323
• DOI: 10.1002/bjs.1800740916

✦ Synopsis

Reduced response of cerebral blood flow to hypercapnia: restoration by extracranial-intracranial bypass

Cerebral blood flow, estimated by the xenon clearance technique, has been used to study eight patients before and after extracranialintracranial (EC-IC) bypass surgery. Response of cerebral blood flow to hypercapnia was also measured to estimate cerebral reactivity, an indicator of cerebral vasodilator reserve capacity. Measurements in all patients were repeated 3 months after surgery. Resting cerebral blood flow was not increased by the operation but cerebral reactivity in the ipsilateral hemisphere was significantly increased in all patients (P = 0.002). Reactivity also increased in the contralateral hemisphere in sixof the eight patients (P=0.065). The response of cerebral blood flow to hypercapnia may prove useful in the selection of symptomatic patients with carotid occlusions or inaccessible stenoses for revascularization by EC-IC bypass.