Intraoperative changes of transcranial Doppler velocity: relation to arterial oxygen content and whole-blood viscosity.

The association of arterial oxygen content (CaO2) and viscosity with transcranial Doppler (TCD) blood flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery was studied in 20 adults without cerebrovascular disease undergoing abdominal surgery associated with significant fluctuations in hematology. TCD measurements and arterial blood samples were obtained before and directly after surgery but before blood transfusion. There was an inverse association between baseline mean velocity and CaO2 (r = -0.56), hematocrit (r = -0.50), hemoglobin (r = -0.51), and high-shear viscosity (r = -0.46). After intraoperative blood loss, intraindividual fluctuations of TCD measurements, blood oxygenation, and rheologic factors were studied. In multiple regression analysis, changes in CaO2 had the strongest association with changes in TCD values, accounting for 55% of the variation in mean velocity. Addition of hematocrit and viscosity could not account for more variation in mean velocity than CaO2 alone.