BLOOD FLOW VELOCITY WAVEFORM IN THE COMMON CAROTID ARTERY IN ADVANCED AGE AND CLINICAL OUTCOME--A 1-YEAR FOLLOW-UP.

We investigated the common carotid arterial blood blow in 70 patients of advanced age (80 and older) in a nursing home using an ultrasonic quantitative blood flow measurement system. Systolic and end-diastolic velocities were obtained from the waveform, and using these two velocities, subjects were classified into three groups according to increasing severity. We then determined mortality rates and changes in the modified Stockton Geriatric Rating Scale (SGRS) over a 1-year period. The mortality of group 1 was significantly lower than that of group 3. the groups with more severely impaired carotid blood flow also demonstrated as groups change in the sequence 1→2→3 a worsening on some subscales of the modified SGRS over the year. These results suggest that carotid arterial blood flow velocity waveform can serve to predict some aspects of clinical outcome in very old age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]