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The ability of transcranial pulsed Doppler ultrasound (TCD) to provide a dynamic assessment of the functional capability of the Circle of Willis was assessed using conventional cerebral angiography for anatomic correlation. Eleven patients had normal four-vessel cerebral angiography prior to being investigated with ultrasound. Angiography and ultrasound both demonstrated a functional anterior communicating artery in nine of the eleven patients, giving complete agreement between the two techniques. Posterior communicating arteries were visualized angiographically in all eleven patients. Ultrasound identified bilateral functional vessels in nine, the other two patients having non-functional vessels. In these latter two patients, angiography demonstrated three of the four posterior communicating arteries to be hypoplastic and it was uncertain whether these vessels carried significant blood flow. The fourth posterior communicating artery was shown to have an absent proximal segment of the ipsilateral posterior cerebral artery, with a persistent fetal posterior communicating artery. This anatomical variation is a potential limitation of ultrasound for assessing functional posterior communicating arteries. These preliminary results indicate that a combination of the anatomical (angiographic) and dynamic (ultrasonic) data may prove to be complementary for assessing the Circle of Willis.

A method is described for non-invasively measuring the increase in lower limb blood flow during transfemoral lumbar aortography. Flow measurements were made using a continuous wave Doppler-shift ultrasound transducer placed over the contralateral femoral artery. The effect of the non-ionic contrast medium B15000 (Iopamidol), conventional contrast medium (Urografin 370) and Urografin 370 plus Lignocaine were compared in a double-blind trial. All three produced an increase in flow which reached a peak between 12 and 45 s after injection. The peak flow following Iopamidol was significantly lower than that from both Urografin 370 alone and with addition of Lignocaine. There was a difference of lesser degree between Urografin 370 plus Lignocaine and Urografin 370 alone; however, this was not statistically significant. The subjective assessments of pain and patient 'discomfort' paralleled these objective flow measurements.