Intra- and extracranial artery blood velocity during a sudden blood pressure decrease in humans

The intra- and extracerebral Doppler artery blood velocity responses to a 10-mmHg abrupt blood pressure (BP) decrease in ten healthy men were studied. This decrease was obtained using two cuffs placed over both thighs. First, cuffs were inflated to pressures greater than the arterial BP for 5 min. Next, they were deflated to 60 mmHg in order to prevent venous return from the legs. We obtained a decrease in mean arterial BP of from 101 (10) to 90 (10) mmHg [mean (SD), P < 0.01] without modifications in the heart rate [HR, 88 (14) beats min ^-1]. Middle cerebral artery mean blood velocity (MCAmv) decreased immediately from 50 (10) to 42 (12) cm?s ^-1 ( P < 0.05). Simultaneously, temporal superficial artery mean blood velocity (TSAmv) decreased from 11 (3) to 7 (2) cm?s ^-1 ( P < 0.05) and common carotid artery blood flow (CCAbf?) decreased from 305 (23) to 233 (33) ml min ^-1 ( P < 0.05). After 5 s, MCAmv and CCAbf returned to baseline values, whereas TSAmv [8?(2) cm?s ^-1], mean arterial BP [86 (10) mmHg] remained low and HR increased [92 (12) beats min ^-1]. TSAmv, BP and HR returned to baseline values in 1 min. These data confirm that cerebral blood flow (CBF) is very rapidly regulated but that blood flow in extracranial territories is not and that it follows the arterial BP changes.